THE CATHOLIC 

CONTROVERSY 

IN THE 

NEW TESTAMENT 

LIGHT 



BOLDRIDGE 



— r* 




Class _ 

Book_ _Sj 



CopyrightN? 



C0EXRIGHT DEPCSfE 



The 

Catholic Controversy 

In the 

New Testament Light 



j *y ^ 



By 



Rev. J, H. Boldridge, Th. M., D. D. 




1922 

THE STRATFORD CO., Publishers 

Boston, Massachusetts 



3^ 



Copyright, 1922 

The STRATFORD CO., Publishers 

Boston, Mass. 



The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 



DEC 18 '22 

C1A6906H 
-wo \ 



PREFACE 

THIS book has a practical aim. In it, the con- 
ditions of salvation in the New Testament and 
in the Roman Catholic church are so compared and 
contrasted that both the plain man and the profound 
thinker, who carefully read it, can obtain an adequate 
and usable knowledge of the entire subject. The 
many and complexly related parts of Romanism by 
careful analysis and generalization have been found 
to have their unity in their location between Christ 
and the sinner. This is fully explained in the dis- 
cussion. As Christ permitted nothing but faith to 
come in between the penitent and himself, the conflict 
between the two teachings is exceedingly sharp. Both 
the average man and the mature theologian desire 
such a treatment of this theme as will enable it readily 
to be understood. An attempt has been here made 
to make easily possible this much desired end. To 
turn on the light is a sacred duty and this treatise 
is intended as an effort in that direction. 

J. H. Boldridge, 

Spartanburg, S. C. 



Contents 



Chapter 


Page 


I 


The Sacraments Defined . 


. 1 


II 


The Priesthood 


. 10 


III 


The Cult of the Virgin Mary 


. 13 


IV 


The Saints and Prayers to Them . . 15 


V 


The Unity of the Roman Catholic Church 17 


VI 


The New Testament Voice 


. 20 


VII 


Christ as Mediator . 


. 25 


VIII 


Justification by Faith 


. 29 


IX 


The Priesthood of Christ 


. 33 


X 


Transubstantiation . 


. 38 


XI 


The Sacraments "Weighed 


. 43 


XII 


The Pope Considered 


. 48 


XIII 


Mary the Mother of Our Lord 


. 58 


XIV 


The Invocation of Saints . 


. 63 


XV 


Contrasts .... 


. 68 


XVI 


Assumptions 


. 74 


XVII 


By Their Fruits 


. 78 


XVIII 


The Papal Controversy . 


. 90 



CHAPTER I 

The Sacraments Defined 

THE Question is frequently asked: "What do 
Catholics teach ? " " What are their doctrines ? ' ' 
These questions are fully answered in the decrees of 
the Council of Trent and in many of their books, 
which are easy to obtain. "What does the New 
Testament teach ? ' ' This question can be settled with 
satisfaction by reading this book which can be had 
in an accurate translation. 

A full and fair investigation of Catholicism will 
make clear by ultimate generalization by rigid induc- 
tion the existence of four blocks of doctrine: viz., 
that of the seven sacraments, that of the priesthood, 
that of the cult of the Virgin Mary, and that of the 
worship of saints. Every one of its doctrines can 
be classed in the proper place under one of these 
heads; and these four parts can be further classed 
under one simple idea which will be fully explained 
later on in its proper place. The results set forth 
in this discussion are the outgrowth of the reading 
of much history and many books written by Catholics 
in effort to expound their doctrines. 

The writer has tried to be patient, careful and 
accurate, both in quotations and in search for le- 

[i] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

gitimate conclusions. A proper solution is greatly de- 
sired by many intelligent ecclesiastical students. 
Popular interest in this theme is daily on the increase. 
Shallow views with rash declamations are not ade- 
quate. If we mean to live wisely in our day, we must 
have accurate information about the burning ques- 
tions which are agitating the minds of men. The 
information herein set forth is so arranged as to be 
easily read, soon comprehended, and quickly verified 
by examining many books found in ordinary libraries. 
Personalities, prejudice, and bitterness have been 
avoided. A desire to reach the truth, the whole truth, 
and nothing but the truth has been constantly upper- 
most in mind. Only the larger outlines are taken into 
consideration in this study. The minute details can 
be found adequately explained in many manuals de- 
voted to this subject. 

Dr. George P. Fisher, who has made this subject 
a profound study, says: "As an inseparable part of 
the Catholic theory of the church stands the doctrine 
of a particular priesthood and of the sacraments. The 
idea of the sacraments was fully developed by the 
schoolmen ; and the number which had been indefinite 
and variable was fixed at seven. It is essential to the 
conception of the sacrament that it should efficiently 
convey the hidden gift of grace which it symbolizes. 
It is the channel through which the grace is com- 
municated; the ordained and indispensable vehicle 
by which it passes to the individual; the instrument 
by the direct operation of which the divine mercy 

M 



The Sacraments Defined 

reaches the soul. Hence the efficacy of a sacrament 
is independent of the personal character of the admin- 
istrator, provided he have the intention to perform 
the sacramental act ; for such an intention is requisite. 
The sacrament, moreover, imparts a divine gift which 
is not involved in, nor produced by, the faith of the 
recipient ; it is ex opere operato. The effect is wrought, 
in case the recipient interposes no obstacle. The 
sacraments are the means of grace and are essential 
to the beginning and growth of the christian life ; they 
meet the individual at his birth, and attend him to 
his burial. They are to the soul and the religious 
life what bread is to the body, nor is their effect 
confined to the soul; it extends even to the physical 
nature. In the sacrament of the Altar, the body 
and blood of Christ are literally present. Christ is 
once more offered, an unbloody sacrifice, through 
which the benefits of the sacrifice on the cross are 
obtained and appropriated. In the converted sub- 
stance of the wafer, the recipient actually partakes 
of the Redeemer's body. The sacrifice of the Mass 
is the central act of worship." 

"Of course, this conception of the sacraments pre- 
supposes a consecrated priesthood, a hierarchical 
order, which is authorized to dispense them. They 
stand in the position of mediators, from whose hands 
the means of salvation must be received; by whom, 
acting in a Judicial capacity, penances, or the 
temporal punishments due to mortal sin after re- 
pentance and confession, are appointed; and who 

[3] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

have it in their power to pronounce against con- 
tumacious offenders the awful sentence of excom- 
munication, which blots their names out of the book 
of life. Between the individual and Christ stands a 
fully organized, self-perpetuating body of priests, 
through whose offices alone the soul can come into 
the possession of the blessings of salvation. It is true 
that baptism, without which one can not be saved — 
unless, indeed the intention to receive it is prevented 
from being carried out, without the candidates' fault 
— may be performed by unconsecrated hands, in 
emergencies where no priest can be summoned. But 
the other sacraments, confirmation, the Lord's Sup- 
per, the allotment of Penance and Absolution, Mar- 
riage, Ordination, Extreme unction, belong exclusively 
to the priest, and have no validity unless performed 
by him." Hist, of the Ref. pp 466-468. 

The Eev. Bertrand L. Conway, a Catholic priest, 
says: "A sacrament is a visible sign permanently 
instituted by Jesus Christ to signify and confer 
grace upon men." "The sacraments are merely the 
application to the individual soul of the fruits of the 
incarnation." "They are the seven channels of the 
blood and merits of the Atonement, flowing from 
the cross upon the hearts of sinful men to wash away 
their sins, and give them the life of grace which 
Christ died to gain." Question Box, 243. The seven 
sacraments, then "confer grace upon men;" "they are 
the seven channels of the blood;" "they wash away 
their sins ; " " they give them the life of grace ; " " they 

[4] 



The Sacraments Defined 

actually confer of themselves the grace which they 
signify.' ' 

The Seven Sacraments in Detail 
The Seven Sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, 
Holy Eucharist, Penance (with Absolution), Extreme 
Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. It may be well 
to take a brief survey of each one of them in order 
to get a better conception of Catholic teaching as to 
sacramental function. 
1. Baptism. 

"Q. "What are the effects of the sacrament of 

Baptism ? 
"A. Firstly. It washes away original sin of our 

first father Adam. 
2ndly, It remits all actual sin, which we ourselves 
have committed, (in case we have committed 
any before baptism) both as to the guilt and 
pain. 
3dly, It infuses the habit of divine grace into our 
souls and makes us the adopted children of 
God. 
4thly, It gives us a right and title to the Kingdom 

of Heaven. 
5thly, It imprints a character or spiritual mark 

in the Soul. 
6thly, In fine, it lets us into the Church of God, 
and makes us children and members of the 
Church." 
"The Catholic Christian Instructed," by Dr. 
Challoner, p. 30. 

[5] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

"Baptism is a sacrament absolutely necessary for 
all, without which no one can enter into the Kingdom 
of God." "Catholic Belief," by Dr. Bruno, p. 81. 
See also "Question Box" p. 253. This is the regular 
Catholic teaching as to the efficacy of baptism. These 
passages are quoted in the interest of accuracy. "It 
washes away original sin ; ' ' " It remits all actual sin ; ' ' 
"it infuses the habit of divine grace;" "it gives us 
a right and title to the Kingdom of heaven;" "it 
imprints a spiritual mark in the soul;" "it lets us 
into the Church of God. ' ' This is the genuine doctrine 
of baptismal regeneration. 

Here by way of contrast are a few Bible verses 
bearing directly on the question: "Unto Him that 
loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood ; 
and he made us to be a Kingdom, to be priests unto 
his God and Father." Eev. 1: 5-6. "Having made 
peace through the blood of the cross." Col. 1: 13. 
"The blood of Jesus, His Son cleanseth us from all 
sin." I John 1: 7 "For God so loved the world that 
He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever be- 
lieveth on Him should not perish but have eternal 
life." "He that believeth on Him is not judged; he 
that believeth not hath been judged already, because 
he hath not believed on the Name of the only begotten 
Son of God. ' ' John 3 : 16, 18. ' ' But now apart from 
the law a righteousness of God, hath been manifested, 
being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even 

[6] 



The Sacraments Defined 

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ 
unto all them that believe.' ' Rom. 3: 21, 22. 
2. The Holy Eucharist. 

When the priest elevates the bread and says: "Hoc 
est corpus meum," "this is my body," then accord- 
ing to Catholic teachings, it is changed into the sub- 
stance of Our Lord's body; "so that no bread or wine 
whatever remains, but Himself- — Body, Blood, Soul 
and Divinity under their appearances." "So that 
after the consecration the bread may seem bread but 
it is not bread, though it seems to the taste, but 
Christ's body; what seems wine, is not wine." This 
doctrine is to be accepted by the faithful without 
question on the authority of the Church. From this 
there must be no appeal. Cardinal Manning says: 
"The appeal from the living voice of the Church to 
any tribunal whatsoever, human history included, is 
an act of private judgment and treason, because that 
living voice is supreme ; and to appeal from that voice 
is also a heresy; because that voice, by Divine assis- 
tance, is infallible." The doctrine of the Catholic 
Church is as follows: "There is no Divine Command- 
ment nor any intrinsic necessity that all men should 
receive communion in both kinds. ' ' So that if the 
bread after consecration is received, the whole Christ 
is received, and when Christ is received the blessing 
is received. The simple command of Christ was : "Do 
this in remembrance of me," that is eat the bread 
and drink the wine. 

[7] 



X.-. 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

3. Pen&nee and Absolution. 

Penance pertains to the duty of the penitent and 
absolution refers to the function of the priest in de- 
claring forgiveness. The Penitent must be contrite, 
make confession, and give satisfaction ; then the priest 
pronounces absolution. This sacrament is for cleans- 
ing of those mortals sins committed after baptism. 
In connection with this is auricular confession and 
the performance of certain good works to be done by 
the direction of the priest. 

4. Marriage. 

According to Catholics this is a divine rite solely in 
the hands of the priest and secular marriage is no 
marriage. This sacrament must be performed by a 
priest to give it divine validity. It follows therefore 
that Protestant marriages are entirely without divine 
sanction and are therefore sinful. 

5. Ordination. 

This refers to the institution of the priesthood. 
Priests must be ordained in a certain way. "Holy 
Order, then, is a sacrament by which Bishops, Priests, 
and -other Ministers of the Church are ordained, and 
receive power and grace to perform their sacred du- 
ties. ' 9 The Bishops ordain. 

6. Confirmation. 

Is a sacrament "by which the faithful, who have 
already been made children of God by baptism, re- 
ceive the Holy Ghost by prayer, unction (or anoint- 
ing with Holy oil called Chrism), and the laying on 

[8] 



The Sacraments Defined 

of the hands of a Bishop, the successor of the Apos- 
tles." 
7. Holy Unction. Extreme Unction. 

This "consists in the anointing, with holy oil, by 
the priest, of those in danger «of death by sickness, 
accompanied by prayer." 

These are the seven sacraments of the Catholic 
Church. They are all entirely in the use and control 
of the priesthood, except baptism which, in extreme 
danger of death, may be performed by any one who 
does the baptizing with the intention of carrying out 
the will of the Church. This brief view of the seven 
sacraments is sufficient for the purpose of the present 
discussion. All that is necessary here is to note that 
the Catholic Church teaches that they are the Chan- 
nels through which grace is communicated from the 
risen Redeemer to the penitent sinner. They are the 
means by which the benefits of Christ's death reach 
the soul. They take hold of the infant in the cradle 
and continue till he is in the grave. They reach every 
sphere and relation of life and aim to grip every in- 
dividual in every country for all time. They are the 
connecting link between Christ and salvation with the 
well defined theory that if there is no link there is 
no salvation. They convey grace. They apply it to 
the soul. No sacrament no Salvation. 



[9] 



CHAPTER II 
The Priesthood 

THESE sacraments are too important to be left 
to carelessness, and indifference. They are 
committed into the hands and the care of specially 
divinely appointed agents who apply them to the 
individual. No exact classification is either desir- 
able or necessary here. The series beginning with 
the ordinary Priest rises up to the Bishop, Arch- 
bishops, Cardinals, and the Pope who is the Head 
of the Church, the successor of Peter, the vicegerent 
of Christ here on earth, and the infallible guide of 
the Church on earth. All of the sacraments are in 
the hands of the priesthood and they are confined to 
them. 

1. Note the grades in the Priesthood: The Pope 
first, then the Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, 
Priests. This topic will receive fuller treatment in 
another place. 

2. According to Roman Catholicism the Priest- 
hood is the Church and the Church is the Priesthood. 
The Pope is the successor of Peter. The Priests are 
the successors of the Apostles. They offer up the 
unbloody sacrifice. They require penance. They 
pronounce absolution. They alone in the Holy 

[10] 



The Priesthood 

Eucharist partake of both the bread and the wine. 
Those below the priesthood are "the Faithful' ' and 
in the Eucharist they partake of the bread only 
which has become the body of the Lord and in the 
bread alone they have the entire body of the Lord 
in all respects and as fully as if they had also par- 
taken of the wine. The command to eat the bread 
and drink the wine was given to the Church in the 
form of the Priesthood and was not given to the 
"Faithful," so that they are not compelled to re- 
ceive the wine in order to get the blessing. 

3. So, then, as all grace comes through these seven 
sacraments which are in the hands of the priests 
only, it follows that there is no salvation outside of 
the Catholic Church. This institution alone is God's 
agency for saving the souls of men. On earth it is 
Christ's only agency for imparting grace and salva- 
tion to men. The sacraments in the hands of priests 
make the contact between Christ and the penitent. 
They apply the atonement. The Faithful receive 
from the Priesthood doctrine, instruction, the care 
of the conscience, the sacraments applied without 
disputation and without hesitation. The Faithful 
are not to question but to obey. 

4. In religious matters the faithful are not to 
think but to believe. They must take what is given 
them and be thankful. They are not to read, think, 
and determine for themselves but to believe what 
the Church believes and to do what the Church 
says do. The Priests lead, the people follow. So 

["] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

that as the Church does the making of creed and 
the people receive it unhesitatingly, there has been 
great shortage in education among the masses in 
many Roman Catholic countries such as Ireland, 
Mexico, South America, Spain. If people know too 
much, they will think and attempt too much. If a 
man has another man to do his thinking for him, he 
is not apt to do much thinking for himself. 



[12] 



CHAPTER III 
The Cult op the Virgin Mary 

IT HAS been affirmed that the Eoman Catholics 
consider that Our Lord's mother is a supreme 
object of worship. They themselves confess that 
they have for her the highest possible reverence. The 
point here and now made is that the Catholic church 
holds tenaciously to the doctrine that she is a Medi- 
atrix between the Son and the penitent. They pray 
to her that she may pray to the Son for them. This 
is their clearly defined teaching and their regular 
practice in their daily devotions. It is a part of their 
theory of the sphere of intercession. The priests, 
the Virgin, and the saints intercede with the Son. 
The priests offer up all over the world much un- 
bloody sacrifice and also intercede with the Son. 
But they do not leave the matter there. They add 
to this the intercession of the Virgin and also that 
of the saints. The virtue of her intercession is based 
on the fact of her being our Lord's mother. He will 
hear her. Her prayers will have weight with the 
Son. He will heed what she says. This is good 
Catholic teaching. I here copy from a Catholic 
manual a prayer to the blessed Virgin: "0 blessed 
Virgin, mother of God! and by this august quality 

[i3] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

worthy of all respect from man and angels, I 
come to offer thee my most humble homage, and to 
implore the aid of thy prayers and protection!" 

"Thou art all powerful with the Almighty, and 
thy goodness for mankind is equal to thy influence 
in heaven. Thou knowest, blessed Virgin! that 
from my tender years, I looked up to thee as my 
mother, my advocate, and my patroness; thou wert 
pleased to consider me, from that time, as one of 
thy children; and whatever graces I have received 
from God, I confess with humble gratitude, that it 
is through thee I received them. Why was I not as 
faithful in thy service as thou wert bountiful in as- 
sisting me? But I will henceforth serve, honor, 
and love thee. Accept, Blessed Virgin, my prot- 
estation of fidelity; look favorably on the confidence 
I have in thee; obtain for me, of thy dear Son, a 
lively faith, a firm hope, a tender, a generous, and 
constant love. Obtain for me a purity that nothing 
can soil, a humility, that nothing can elate, a patient 
submission to the will of God, that nothing can ever 
disturb." "The Christian's Guide to Heaven," 
p. 188-189. This prayer sets forth very clearly the 
relation the Catholics claim the Blessed Virgin sus- 
tains to them. This topic will be discussed again 
in another place in this book. 



[14] 



CHAPTER IV 
The Saints and Prayers to Them 

THE intercession of Mary is based on her relation 
of kinship to Our Lord. She was his mother 
and on that account her intercessions will prevail 
with him. The saints may be called on to assist the 
penitents in their prayers which are based on their 
works of supererogation. Certain saints by excess 
of good works have put to their credit merits which 
may be applied to the benefit of brethren less for- 
tunate and who by defect are in need. "Many saints 
by the following of poverty, chastity, and obedience, 
and the practice of heroic virtue, have obtained 
many graces and helps for their weaker brethren of 
the communion of Saints/ ' Question Box, p 236. 

The angels also are regarded as intercessors to 
whom prayers are addressed. They also are a part 
of a great mediation between the penitent and the 
Savior. This brief summary of Roman Catholic 
doctrines will be sufficient to enable the student to 
see the relation which subsists between Christ and 
salvation so far as these teachings are concerned. 
All who are in Christ are in God the Father. All who 
fully comply with the seven sacraments are in Christ. 
Therefore those who fully comply with the seven 

[15] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

sacraments are in God the Father. The sacraments 
attach to Christ and Christ attaches to the Father. 
The sacraments and priests are fundamental and 
necessary to salvation. The Roman Catholic church 
alone has these and therefore she alone is the ref- 
uge of the troubled and sinful soul. Such is the 
teaching of Catholicism. This is proclaimed all the 
time everywhere. 



[16] 






CHAPTER V 
The Unity of the Roman Catholic Church 

THE FOUR described blocks of doctrine taken 
together have their unity in the fact that they 
are interrelated parts of what was designed to be 
one vast, complicated, complex, and varied system of 
mediation between the penitent and Christ. The 
unity is in the mediation. The oneness is in the 
interposition. The location is between the sinner 
and the Savior. The Catholics consider the Pope as 
the Head and the official unity of the church, and 
to external appearances this seems fully to satisfy 
them. But as a matter of fact the Pope is only a 
part of the mediation. 

1. Note the location: between the sinner and 
Christ. The old Gnostic system was also vast and 
complicated but its location was between the Son 
and the Father. The seven sacraments, the priest- 
hood, the cult of the blessed Virgin, and the worship 
of the saints look, on the one hand, towards the 
sinner, and, on the other hand, to the Savior. The 
design is to bridge the chasm between sin and 
salvation. The penitent must go through the sacra- 
ments to the Redeemer. He needs grace. That 
comes from our Lord. But the sacraments are the 

[17] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

channels through which it flows from Him into the 
heart. 

2. The function of the sacrament is to convey 
grace. The fountain is full. The penitent is needy. 
The sacrament carries the grace from the source of 
supply to the thirsty heart. Baptism takes away 
sin. Its waters carry cleansing power. The conse- 
crated bread is turned into the body of the Lord and 
when it is received the Lord is received. In Holy 
Unction grace to enable one to die properly is re- 
ceived. In ordination grace is received through the 
laying on of the hands of the Bishop. 

3. The aim of this one vast mediation is to take 
over the whole work of saving the souls of men from 
the soul of infant to that of the octogenarian; from 
the soul of the savage to that of the philosopher; 
from the past to the present ; from the present to the 
end of time. It reaches out after all men in all 
countries in all ages. The Catholic church proposes to 
adapt the four blocks of doctrine to all social, politi- 
cal, economic, and racial conditions. 

This vast mediation is exclusive. It proposes to 
occupy the entire ground. It claims a monopoly. 
It will share its duties with no other agency. There 
is no salvation outside of the Roman Catholic church. 
It may be well to note here that though this media- 
tion is vast, it is open to the just and sound criti- 
cism that it puts one sinner, the penitent, into the 
hands of another sinner, the priest. One sinner can 
not save another sinner. The man who can not save 

[18] 



The Unity of the Roman Catholic Church 

himself from his own sins is not a competent savior 
of some other sinner. In saying this there is not the 
slightest insinuation against the life of the clergy 
but the affirmation is made that they are not so far 
removed from infirmities that they themselves do 
not need salvation. If they need salvation how can 
they save others? In thinking through this vast 
mass of teachings the painful impression is made that 
this system is well adapted to convey the idea that 
the Christ wants it to be known that it is a very 
difficult thing to get saving access to Him; that it 
takes much and loud praying to get his attention, and 
that it requires much supplication to get one pitying 
glance from Him. One is tempted to ask, did the 
Christ mean to teach that he is very unwilling to be 
approached by the contrite sinner? Did, Christ 
really mean to discourage men in their desire to 
have access to Him? Did He really mean to keep 
them at a distance? 



[19] 



CHAPTER VI 

The New Testament Voice 

BETWEEN the time of the resurrection and the 
completion of the writings of the New Testa- 
ment, there elapsed from twenty to fifty years so 
that many churches came into being before the 
volume was completed. During this period the 
apostles preached far and wide. They compared 
experiences. They were led by the Holy Spirit. 
They were conscious of great harmony in what they 
taught and in what they had seen and heard. They 
wrote a thoroughly tested gospel. What they wrote 
was what they preached. They wrote to circulate, 
to preserve, and to fully establish what they had 
been proclaiming. They held in common a distinct 
body of teaching. We have that body in the New 
Testament. Is it enough? If not, why not? Is it 
too little? If so, why so? They wrote in under- 
standable words and language. They intended that 
men should take in their meaning. The New Testa- 
ment is not vague, shadowy, and uncertain. In the 
light of devout, thorough, and scientific scholarship, 
its meaning is as certain as that of any other book. 
It has been proved by long, accurate, and devoted 
trial to be capable of wholesome and infinite work- 

[20] 



The New Testament Voice 

ableness in all affairs of life. It has upheld the ten 
commandments. It has taught the sermon on the 
mount, the unity of God, the deity of Christ, the 
personality of the Holy Spirit, the need of salva- 
tion, and Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. 
It has favored missions, education, and salvation. 
It has been the basis of science, literature, art, law, 
and the highest and best in life. It is a revelation 
from God. If the apostles preached something differ- 
ent from the New Testament, why did they write the 
New Testament? If they meant the New Testament 
for the apostolic age only and that after it there 
should be something else entirely different, why did 
they not say so in some part of the volume ? If they 
purposed more to be handed down to subsequent 
ages, why did they not give notice of such intention ? 
1. When Jesus was on earth, did he allow men to 
approach him directly without any rite or priest, or 
did he require an elaborate mediation? What are 
the Gospel facts on this point? One day a leper came 
to Him and said: "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst 
make me clean." And he stretched forth his hand, 
and touched him saying, I will, be thou clean. And 
straightway his leprosy was cleansed." Mat. 8: 3. 
On one occasion many publicans and sinners sat down 
at meat with Jesus and his disciples, then the Phari- 
sees said unto his disciples : "why eateth your master 
with the publicans and sinners?" "But when he 
heard it, he said ' i ' They that are whole have no need 
of a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye 

[21] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

and learn what this meaneth, I desire mercy and not 
sacrifice; for I came not to call the righteous, but 
sinners'. " Mat. 9 :10-13. So the woman with an issue 
of blood, touched Him directly and was healed. Mat. 
9 :20-22. The account of the woman, weeping tears 
on his feet and wiping them with the hair of her 
head, and anointing with ointment, is a strong case in 
point. The passage is one of the finest things ever 
written. Luke 7:36-50. So as to the healing of the 
blind man. John 9 : 1-34. If a man needed healing in 
body, or cleansing from sin, he always found a wel- 
come to Jesus and was never hindered by the Master. 
His need was his unfailing ticket of admission to the 
Lord Jesus. The case of the ten lepers shows the 
same thing. Luke 17 : 11-19. It is needless to multi- 
ply examples. It is the same story all through the 
gospels. 

2. The invitations of Jesus to sinners to come to 
him teach the same thing. "Come unto me all ye 
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for 
I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find 
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my 
burden is light." Mat. 11:29-30. "And the Spirit 
and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him 
say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come : he 
that will, let him take the water of life freely." 
Rev. 22:17. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye 
to the waters, and he that hath no money; Come ye, 

[22] 



The New Testament Voice 

buy, and eat ; yea come buy wine and milk without 
money and without price." Isa. 55:1. If a man 
thirsts, that is enough, let him come and drink. If 
a man says from the heart: "God be merciful to me 
the sinner," he will go away justified. 

3. So the apostles preached, "Be it known unto 
you therefore, brethren, that through this man is 
proclaimed unto you remission of sins; and by him 
every one that believeth is justified from all things, 
from which ye could not be justified by the law of 
Moses." Acts 13 :19. "But as many as received him, 
to them he gave the right to become children of God, 
even to them that believe on his name." John 1:12. 
"For God gave his only begotten Son, that whoso- 
ever believeth on him should not perish, but have 
eternal life." John 3:16. God is the giver and man 
is the receiver. God is the supply and man is the 
demand. Man has emptiness and God has fullness. 
Faith is a relation between two persons. God is the 
person of infinite resources and man is the person 
whose righteousness is filthy rags. Faith is the 
emptiness of heart turning to the fullness of God in 
order to be filled. The Scriptures teach that faith is 
the channel through which grace flows from the 
Savior into the sinner. The Roman Catholic church 
says the sacraments are the channel. The Bible says 
a man must have faith. The Roman Catholic church 
says a man must have the sacraments. The New 
Testament puts faith alone between Christ and the 

[>3] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

sinner. The Eoman Catholic church puts four blocks 
of doctrine between Christ and the sinner. The con- 
trast is sharp. 



[24] 



CHAPTER VII 

Christ as Mediator 

rpHE NEW TESTAMENT tells us the Christ is 
I mediator between God and men. But it does 
not place four blocks of doctrine between the sinner 
and Christ. There is necessity for a mediator be- 
tween God and men but there is no necessity for one 
between Christ and men to make Christ willing to 
save them for He is already willing to save them with- 
out persuasion. The unwillingness, wherever, it 
exists, is not on the part of Christ but on that of the 
sinner. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to break 
down the sinner's obstinacy, but it can not be broken 
down by the force of rites. The infinite willingness of 
Christ to receive every approaching penitent argues 
the uselessness of a priesthood to induce Him to be- 
come willing to save since He is already character- 
istically so. But the Holy Spirit is necessary to 
make the penitent willing to receive Jesus, and He 
applies the atonement leaving no place for sacra- 
ments. Jesus said: iC Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which 
killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent 
unto thee! How »often would I have gathered thy 
children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, and ye would not." 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

Mat. 23 :37. He was willing but they were not. He is 
always willing. He does not need to be urged to 
become so. His great willingness brought him to 
earth. Not to see this fact is not to see the very 
essence of the Gospel. This one fact obviates the sup^ 
posed importance of the four blocks of doctrine. The 
great passage about Christ as mediator is in I Tim. 
2: 3-6. "This is good and acceptable in the sight 
of God our Savior ; who willeth that all men should 
be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. 
For there is one God, one mediator also between God 
and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave him- 
self a ransom for all. " A mediator is one who comes 
in between two parties at variance, for the purpose 
of reconciling them. Sin had alienated man from 
God. God must condemn sin. Christ was God and 
Man. By virtue of His divine nature he can ap- 
proach God for man and man for God; by virtue 
of His human nature He can approach man for God 
and God for Man. He comes in between the two 
parties and can easily approach each. Christ does 
not need any mediator between Himself and the 
father for they commune with each other. Nor does 
Christ need a human mediator between Himelf and 
man because being man He can approach man and 
man can approach Him. Christ became man that 
He might reach man by virtue of the possession of a 
common nature fitted in every respect for the accom- 
plishment of this very purpose. This is why He be- 
ta*] 



Christ as Mediator 

came incarnate. This is the ground of our hope. 
"For we have not a high priest that can not be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities but one 
that hath been in all points tempted like we are, yet 
without sin. Let us therefore draw near with bold- 
ness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive 
mercy and may find grace to help us in time of 
need." Heb. 4:15-16. 

Jesus, in explaining his peculiar work as mediator, 
illustrates it by reference to Num. 21 :4-9, using this 
language : "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up ; 
that whosoever belie veth in him may have eternal 
life." John 3:14. When the children of Israel 
sinned, God sent the fiery serpents among them, then 
they asked Moses to become mediator between them 
and God. He did so. He approached God for them. 
God approached Moses for them. Moses could and 
did approach both God and the people. Moses was 
directed to erect a serpent of brass upon a pole with 
the assurance that when a bitten man looked upon 
that raised serpent he should live. And so it came 
to pass. There was no need of any mediator between 
Moses and the people because he had free access to 
them and they had free access to him. So now we 
have free access to Jesus and He has free access to 
us. The space between the bitten man and the raised 
serpent must be kept clear so the sick man might see 
and be healed. So the space between the penitent 
and Jesus must be kept clear in order that the sinner 

[27] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

may have an unobstructed view of Jesus by faith. 
The analogy is perfect. The illustration is matchless. 
This fact forever excludes anything like a human 
priesthood now between Christ and men. It is not 
needed. It can never be anything but an obstruction 
and a hindrance. 

The above quotation from Timothy says, "there is 
one mediator between God and men." The affirma- 
tion is very strong and conclusive — not two, not five, 
not ten, but one mediator. But the Roman Catholic 
system has an innumerable host of mediators. An 
examination of the gospel facts leads to the irresisti- 
ble conviction that the Roman Catholic priesthood 
arose later than, and entirely outside of, the Apos- 
tolic age. 



[28] 



CHAPTER VIII 
Justification by Faith 

THEEE is pervading the world the belief and the 
conviction that, if there is anywhere any reliable 
and authoritative religions truth, it is found in the 
New Testament. So that an appeal to it, when done 
wisely, is the surest way to the ear and heart. The 
jailor said to Paul and Silas: "Sirs, what must I do 
to be saved?" And they said, "Believe on the Lord 
Jesus, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16: 30-31. 
Jesus said: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up : 
that whosoever believeth in him may have eternal 
life. For God so loved the world that he gave His 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him 
should not perish but have eternal life. For 
God sent not the Son into the world to judge 
the world; but that the world should be saved 
through him. He that believeth on him is not 
judged; he that believeth not hath been judged 
already, because he hath not believed on the name 
of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:14-18. 
"As many as received him, to them he gave the 
right to become children of God, even to them that 
believe on his name." John 1 : 12. To believe on him 

l>9] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

is to receive him. Faith is the penitent and empty- 
soul turning itself to the Lord Jesus Christ in a 
receptive attitude that it may be filled out of his 
bountiful fullness. It is the sinner casting off his 
supposed righteousness that he may be clothed with 
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. " Being there- 
fore justified by faith, we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." Bom. 5: 1. The 
relation of the saved man to God the Father is very 
definite. God gives,' man receives. Faith in the 
Lord Jesus is taking him as the Sin-bearer. It is 
committing the soul to him and letting him do the 
keeping. It is a deep, spiritual, receptive, personal 
relation of the soul to the Lord Jesus so that he is 
lovingly enthroned in the soul as prophet, priest, 
and king. The act of faith is receptive. The object 
of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior from 
sin. The result of this relation is joy, consecration, 
and loyalty to him. There is no merit in the act of 
faith but there is infinite merit in its object. 

Notable examples of faith are Abraham, and the 
Centurion, Mat. 8:5-13, Luke 7:2-10; also the cases 
mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. They 
all show that faith is the direct taking of Jesus into 
the heart in a simple, sweet, childlike manner. These 
^ examples find no place for any priesthood. They are 
too much surcharged with spiritual and vital force 
for that. Faith is the link that connects us with 
Jesus. It is the tie that binds us to Him. It is the 
channel through which grace flows from Him into us. 

[30] 



Justification By Faith 

It is our hand receiving the gift from Him. It is too 
serious, too vital, too close to admit of human inter- 
mediaries. This whole subject is fully discussed in 
the Epistle to the Romans. The specific theme of this 
deep document is this: "The relation of works to 
salvation." This is precise and clear. Then in sub- 
stance two questions are asked. 

First, Do good works precede salvation as a cause? 
Eomans, chapters 1-11. In eleven chapters Paul 
shows that good works can not possibly be the ground 
or cause of salvation ; not even in the case of Abraham 
and much less so in the case of David. Then he shows 
that faith is a condition of salvation. Now if there 
were also other conditions of salvation, as he was 
fully discussing how to be saved, why did he not bring 
them into the answer he was so earnestly giving? If 
the priests and sacraments were to have a great place 
in the work, why did not Paul say so here? There 
never was a better place in which to display the whole 
matter in all its relations and bearings ; and, yet, he 
does not even allude to any such theme. The plain 
inference is that Paul did not teach any such gospel 
as that. 

The second question in this epistle is: "Do good 
works follow salvation as one of its results?" Eom. 
12-16 chapters. The answers to these two questions 
show the relations between faith and good works. 
Faith is a cause ; good works are its result. Man is 
justified by faith alone but not by faith which is 
alone. Just as the cause is most surely followed by 

[3i] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

the effect so true faith will be followed by true works. 
In grace rich provision is made for holy living. The 
joy of salvation shows itself in devotion to the Master. 
The love of God shed abroad in the heart will cause 
the heart to be shed abroad in righteous deeds. "If 
ye love me, ye will keep my commandments/' Per- 
sonal attachment to Christ has produced the most 
heroic actions ever performed by men. In Him we 
can do all things. Millions today are serving man- 
kind simply because they love Him, and because He 
loves them. Love is the force. There is not any con- 
flict between the epistle to the Romans and the epistle 
of James. Romans, chapters 12-16 and the epistle of 
James deal with one and the same topic, namely : the 
rich spiritual deeds which flow out of the blood 
cleansed soul. What a wonderfully rich provision 
God has made in Christ for our regeneration, justi- 
fication, sanctification, usefulness, and glorification. 
Nothing is lacking. And so let us remember that in 
vain we worship him if we teach for doctrine the 
commandments of men. We are not at liberty to set 
aside the word for things of "secular" origin. We 
are "to contend earnestly for the faith which was 
once for all delivered unto the saints. ' ' Jude 3. Paul 
does not tell us anything about priests and sacra- 
ments in the epistle to the Romans. 



[32] 



CHAPTER IX 

The Priesthood of Christ 

THE epistle to the Hebrews treats of this subject 
with such preciseness and fullness that every one 
is able to comprehend it. There were those who said 
they could not give up the old Testament dispensation 
for the New one in Christ Jesus because the Old one 
was given through angels, was delivered to Moses, and 
had a sacrifice and a priesthood. The author of this 
epistle takes up these three objections and turns them 
into arguments in favor of Christianity. This is the 
line of thought. 

First, Christ is superior to angels, Heb. 1 : 5 ; 2 : 18. 

Second, Christ is superior to Moses, Heb. 3 : 1-19. 

Third, Christ is the Son of God. He was the great 
sacrifice. He is the great intercessor. He offered up 
Himself and "ever liveth to make intercession." 
These are the reasons why the new dispensation should 
be received by all. In treating further of the priest- 
hood of Christ he says that: 

1. He was made priest by divine appointment. 
Heb. 5 : 1-10. He was the Son of God and therefore 
fitted for the work. He was not a Levite. He was 
after the order of Melchizedek, who had no predeces- 
sor, neither successor. So Jesus was sole priest. No 

[33] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

one like Him went before Him and no one like Him 
came after Him. He was human and He was divine. 
At the grave of Lazarus he wept with Mary and 
Martha and at the same time he had the power to 
call Lazarus from the dead. The ground of his choice 
was his infinite adequateness for the specific work. 

2. This divine combination of the finite and the 
infinite fitted Him for the unique function to which 
He was appointed. In his human nature He could 
suffer with men and fof* men. In his divine nature 
his suffering could be infinite in quality and quan- 
tity. At the grave he wept profuse tears and then 
defied and destroyed death. The same person did 
both. ' ' For such a high priest became us, holy, guile- 
less, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made 
higher than the heavens ; who needeth not daily, like 
those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his 
own sins, and then for the sins «of the people : for this 
he did once for all, when he offered up himself. For 
the law appointeth men high priests, having infirmity ; 
but the word of the oath, which was after the law. 
appointeth a Son, perfected forever more. ' ' Heb. 7 : 
26-28. Wonderful statement ! Priests need not daily 
offer up sacrifices first for themselves and then for 
the people: "for this he did once for all, when he 
offered up himself. ' ' It does not need to be repeated ; 
no, never. Do we need one to make an infinite atone- 
ment? "We have such a high priest, who sat down 
on the right hand of the throne of majesty in the 
heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true 

[34] 



The Priesthood of Christ 

tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man." Heb. 
8: 1-2. "He offered up Himself." Then he entered 
into the holy place to intercede. ' i But Christ having 
become a high priest of the good things to come, 
through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not 
made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, 
nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but 
through his own blood, entered in once for all into 
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption." 
Heb. 9 :11-12. "But now once at the end of the ages 
hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacri- 
fice of himself. ' ' Heb. 9 :26. ' ' Through his own blood. ' ' 
"By the sacrifice of himself." "Once for all." So 
high, so deep, so long, so broad, was this sacrifice that 
he could say: "It is finished." It does not need to 
be supplemented by "masses," "unbloody sacrifices" 
and "sacraments." How utterly unworthy are these 
little, weakly, sickly, attempted additions to the great 
gospel facts ! 

3. But that is not all. His warm, deep, rich, sweet, 
sympathetic human nature enables him to apply the 
atonement through the Holy Spirit to every wounded 
and bruised soul everywhere. ' ' For it became him for 
whom are all things, and through whom are all things, 
in bringing many sons into glory, to make the author 
of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For 
both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified 
are all of one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to 
call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name 
unto my brethren." Heb. 2:10-11. "Wherefore it 

[35] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

behooveth him in all things to be made like unto his 
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful 
high priest in things pertaining to God, to make pro- 
pitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he 
himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to 
succor them that are tempted. ' ' Heb. 2 : 17-18 
"Having then a great high priest, who hath passed 
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us 
hold fast our confession. For we have not a high 
priest that can not be touched with the feeling of our 
infirmities; but one that hath been in all points 
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us 
therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of 
grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace 
to help us in time of need. " Heb. 4 : 14-16. Can any- 
thing be sweeter and more precious ? 

What is the channel through which these blessings 
flow from the Savior? Eead the eleventh chapter of 
Hebrews and you will find the answer. See how many 
times in it the words "by faith" are used and of whom 
they are used. The noon day sun does not throw 
more light on the earth than does this passage of 
Scripture throw light on the entire plan of salvation. 
"By faith Abel," "by faith Enoch," "by faith 
Noah," "by faith Abraham," "by faith Sarah," "by 
faith Jacob," "by faith Moses," "by faith," "by 
faith." "By faith they passed through the Red Sea 
as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do 
were swallowed up. By faith the walls of Jericho fell 
down, after they had been compassed about for seven 

m 



The Priesthood of Christ 

days. By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with 
them that were disobedient, having received the spies 
with peace. And what shall I say more ? for the time 
will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, 
Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets; 
who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought right- 
eousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of 
lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge 
of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed 
mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens. 
Women received their dead by a resurrection; and 
others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance ; 
that they might obtain a better resurrection; and 
others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, 
moreover of bonds and imprisonments: They were 
stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, 
they were slain with the sword; they went about in 
sheepskins, in goatskins ; being destitute, afflicted, evil 
entreated (of whom the world was not worthy,) wan- 
dering in deserts and mountains and caves, and holes 
of the earth. And these all, having had witness borne 
to them through their faith, received not the promise, 
God having provided some better thing concerning 
us, that apart from us they should not be made per- 
fect/' Heb. 11: 29-40. 



[37] 



+- 



CHAPTER X 
Transubstantiation 

AFTER the consecration by the priest the bread 
may seem to be mere bread but it is the body 
and blood -of the Lord ; the wine may seem to be wine 
but it is not, it is the real blood and body of the 
Lord. The change of substance has taken place in 
spite of appearances. Several things may be noted : 

1. This interpretation is nowhere mentioned in the 
New Testament. Jesus said: "This do in remem- 
brance of me." Those who in remembrance receive 
the bread and the wine have deep spiritual ex- 
periences of the most valuable kind. The results in 
the soul leave nothing to be desired. A far reaching 
end is achieved in the heart by psychological processes 
which are well known. The divine command is 
adapted to the nature of the heart. There is not the 
slightest need of the Catholic interpretation. 

2. The Catholic interpretation contradicts the evi- 
dence of the senses. "This is my body." This bread 
is literally my real body. Catholics accept it on the 
authority of the Roman Catholic church. If we deny 
the evidence of the senses here, when after the con- 
secration the bread seems bread and the wine seems 
wine, we shall find it difficult to be consistent when 

[38] 



Transubstantiation 

we appeal to the evidence of the senses in attestation 
of the great gospel declaration about Jesus and his 
miracles: especially about his resurrection. Jesus 
appealed to the evidence of the senses in identifying 
his body after the resurrection with the body he had 
before the resurrection in these words : ' ' See my hands 
and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; 
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me 
having. And when he had said this, he showed them 
his hands and his feet." Luke 24: 39. Were they 
real hands and feet or did they simply "seem" to be 
so? A mighty principle is involved. "We can not 
affirm the evidence of the senses in the case of our 
Lord 's body and then deny it with regard to the bread 
and wine without being chargeable with the gravest 
inconsistency. The facts of the gospel are to be con- 
sidered valid on the ground of the trustworthiness 
of the senses. If the test applies in the one case, it 
also applies in the other. The two disciples who went 
to Emmaus had the Lord made known to them in this 
way: "And their eyes were opened and they knew 
him ; and he vanished out of their sight. ' ' Luke 24 : 31 ; 
also Luke 24: 50-53. "Then saith he to Thomas, 
Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and 
reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and 
be not faithless, but believing." John 20:27; and, so 
as to his appearance at the sea of Galilee recorded in 
the twenty-first chapter of John. "And when he had 
said these things, as they were looking, he was taken 
up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." 

[39] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

Acts 1: 9; I John 1: 1-14. The New Testament ap- 
peals to us on the ground that men used their senses 
in judging of «our Lord's words and deeds. Jesus 
said: "Ye shall be my witnesses." Acts 1: 8. They 
were to testify to what they had seen, heard and felt. 
The credibility of human experience is the only pos- 
sible assurance and certainty of transference of knowl- 
edge from one person to another. Knock out this 
prop and everything falls. If the senses can not be 
trusted, knowledge is impossible. Every institution 
is based on this foundation. Jesus staked all on it. 
When Jesus took the bread in his hands and said, 
"this is my body," did he mean to identify that 
piece of bread with his body, or did he mean to say 
"this bread represents my body?" When he said: 
"Thou art Peter," did he mean to say Peter was a 
real "rock" or did he speak symbolically? Mat. 
16 : 18. When he said : " I am the door, ' ' did he mean 
that he himself was a real wooden door ? "I am the 
bright and morning star," does this mean he was a 
real star? Take the interpretation of Joseph's dream 
in Gen. 41: 25-31. "The seven good kine are seven 
years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the 
dream is one." Were the seven kine literally seven 
years, or did they represent seven years? When 
Jesus said: "I am the vine," did he mean that he 
himself was a real vine ? When Jesus said : i l This is 
my body," beyond all doubt he meant: "this repre- 
sents or symbolizes my body." 

3. The Catholic theory is based on an assumption. 

[4o] 



Transubstantiation 

That the priest has any such power is wild fancy. It 
is a bit of magic brought over from heathenism in 
trying to adapt Christianity to heathenism and heath- 
enism to Christianity. It was the result of the prin- 
ciple of accomodation. It is of secular origin. On 
this point read Dean Stanley's "Christian Institu- 
tions" and Uhlhorn's "Conflict of Christianity with 
Heathenism/ ' If Christians themselves deny the well 
tested evidence »of the senses, how can they meet the 
charges of skeptical teachers who are fond of affirming 
that the gospel writers were too easily imposed upon ? 
See Acts 1 : 1-6. Here we see the care taken to elim- 
inate everything not standing the severest test to 
which it could possibly be subjected. Read II Peter 
1: 16-21. "For we did not follow cunningly devised 
fables when we made known unto you the power 
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were 
eye-witnesses of his majesty." "Eye-witnesses." 
"That which was from the beginning, which we have 
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we 
have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the 
Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we 
have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you 
that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was 
manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and 
heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have 
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with 
the father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And 
these things write we unt-o you that your joy may be 
full." I John 1:1-4. 

[4i] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

Old age does not make an assumption true. For 
ages it was assumed that the sun went around the 
earth but rigid induction showed that the earth goes 
round the sun. The assumption of transubstantiation 
can not stand the test. 



[42] 



CHAPTER XI 
The Sacraments Weighed 

WHEN Jesus moved among men on earth the 
common people heard him gladly. The poor, 
the blind, the sick and all needy ones found in him a 
helper. He built his kingdom out of materials re- 
jected by the other kingdoms. People approached 
him directly. He aproached them directly. Need 
always found access to him. He resented anything 
like an effort on the part of any one to keep the 
helpless away from him. His severest words were 
against the Scribes and Pharisees and rulers be- 
cause by their traditions they had built up a wall 
between God and men, and he made it his business to 
tear down this wall. He was the most approachable 
man that ever lived, but he was more than man and 
taught men to approach God through him. He in- 
vited men to him. He commanded his disciples to 
invite men to him. That is the meaning of the great 
commission. In viewing a landscape you want no 
obstruction between you and the scene. If someone 
holds a blanket before your eyes the object is put 
out of your sight. So now men clearly see Jesus by 
faith; but the sacraments get in between men and 
Jesus and shut him off from their sight. The New 

[43] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

Testament teaching as to Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper is clear, refreshing, and spiritual. But the 
Roman Catholic teaching about the sacraments imme- 
diately transfers us into another and quite different 
realm. 

1. The sacraments are surcharged with a magical 
element. The priest takes the bread and changes it 
in a moment into the body, the blood, and the 
Divinity of our Lord! And Baptism washes away 
sin ! In ordination th^e bishop 's hands confer grace ! 
There is nothing of this in the New Testament. But 
we see here the element which came from heathen 
sources in historical development by adaptation. 
This sort of thing was practiced by the heathen and 
was absorbed by Christians in the effort to bridge the 
chasm between the two religions. But it is contrary 
to the genius of Christianity. It sows tares among 
the wheat. It breaks down that which Christ wants 
to build up. We do not need a new multiplication 
table for every new calculation; but one multiplica- 
tion table is sufficient for the solving of the problems 
of life. So the gospel facts, going out in different 
directions, reach all peoples everywhere during all 
time in everything. Human manipulations hinder 
instead of helping. Human substructions do not im- 
prove; the Quakers leave off water baptism and 
thereby suffer loss. The Catholics following the 
schoolmen add on five sacraments to Baptism and the 
Lord's' supper and thus by them hold up a blanket 
before the eyes of the penitent so that he can not 

[44] 



The Sacraments Weighed 

see Christ. But these efforts, and all efforts like 
these, have been failures. The book needs not by 
additions to be changed but to be used — needs not 
to be improved but to be obeyed. The quantity of 
tradition in the Roman Catholic Church is enormous ; 
much of it is trivial, childish, weak, sentimental, un- 
profitable, light, mere rubbish. It is not edifying. It 
is destructive. It deflects the mind from Christ. 
Thus one of the so-called church fathers in trying to 
show that no man can be saved without baptism said 
the penitent robber crucified with Christ was bap- 
tized in his own blood. The human man can not 
conceive of anything more far fetched and trivial ! 

2. Catholics tie the penitent to the sacraments, 
and tie the sacraments to the priests, and tie the 
priest to the pope. Everything is headed towards 
Eome. They sidetrack the main train and put a use- 
less thing on the main track. The bitten men were 
to look up to the serpent of brass ; but those who look 
to the sacraments look in the wrong direction. They 
cause men to grasp at shadows when really they 
ought to lay hold of the substance. They make peo- 
ple babies instead of men. They give the people 
little objects of thought ; whereas they ought to have 
before them the Christ as the great object of con- 
templation. Little thoughts make little men; great 
thoughts make great men. They put a thing in the 
place of a person. They put a human theory in the 
place of the Lord Jesus Christ. They make void the 
commandments of God by the traditions of men. The 

[45] 



1 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

New Testament teaches that what bread is to the 
hungry man, what water is to the thirsty man, what 
air is to the suffocating man, Christ is to the needy 
soul which cries to him for help. It is a question 
of need, of adaptation, of contact; Christ is at one 
end of the pipe, the sinner is at the other end — then 
fullness fills emptiness. It is a relation between two 
persons. One gives, the other receives. One is sick, 
the other the doctor. One is a sinner, the other is 
savior. One is lost, 'the other finds. One cries for 
help, the other comes to the aid of the cry. "Come 
unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I 
will give you rest. ' ' And that rest is sweet. 

3. The priests alone are competent to handle the 
sacraments. So one sinner is put into the hands of 
another sinner in order to be saved. Weakness is to 
save weakness. Darkness is to take darkness and 
make it light. The thirsty man without water is to 
give the other man refreshing drink. The New 
Testament invites the thirsty soul to come to Jesus 
directly and immediately and drink. "And the 
Spirit and the bride say come, And he that heareth, 
let him say, come. And he that is athirst, let him 
come; he that will, let him take the water of life 
freely." Rev. 22:17. "Freely," "without money 
and without price," without priests, without sacra- 
ments, without human inventions, without the com- 
mandments of men, without any intermediaries of 
any kind. There are two passages of Scripture that 
settle this point beyond controversy. Acts 15:1-36 

[46] 



The Sacraments Weighed 

and Gal. 2:1-21. They give an account of the 
meeting at Jerusalem where the church and apostles 
had up before them this question: Must the Gentile 
Christians be circumcised in order to be saved? The 
Judaizers said they must submit to this rite ; in other 
words the Judaizers said circumcision must come in 
between Christ and the penitent. The decision was 
adverse. That means no rite is to come in between 
the penitent sinner and the risen Savior. This was a 
test case. It was one decided by the apostles and the 
Jerusalem church after prolonged controversy, and 
covers every point involved in the nature and use 
of the sacraments. This ought to settle the matter 
forever. Nothing but faith is to come in between the 
penitent and the Savior; but, faith is an attitude 
rather than a thing ; emptiness seeking fullness ; the 
sinner receiving the Savior. This decision is apos- 
tolic and is authoritative forever. " Being therefore 
justified by faith, we have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ.' ' Eom. 5:1. 



[47] 



CHAPTER XII 

The Pope Considered 

THE pope is not the successor of Christ but of 
Caesar. The government of the Roman Catholic 
church was taken over bodily from that of the Roman 
Empire. The Pope corresponds to the Emperor. The 
cardinals succeed to the Roman Senators. The 
Bishops and archbishops correspond to the Roman 
consuls and proconsuls. The priests correspond to 
the magic workers of the heathen temples. The magic 
element in the sacraments was brought over from 
the supposed wonderful powers of the heathen ma- 
gicians. The Christians of the early centuries were 
sometimes in severe conflict with heathenism and 
sometimes they tried to absorb it. In trying to engulf 
it they themselves were swallowed up by it. The 
Roman Catholic church is a strange combination of 
Christian and heathen elements. These facts are now 
freely affirmed by scientific church historians of va- 
rious creeds without hesitation and without apology. 
They base their conclusions on abundant and well 
authenticated facts. That is why we look in vain in 
the New Testament for proofs of many teachings and 
customs of Romanism. They are without New Testa- 
ment authority because they are from an entirely 

[48] 



The Pope Considered 

different and antagonistic source. They are the re- 
sult of "historical development," of " accommoda- 
tion, " of "adaptation," of "compromise." Accord- 
ing to Dean Stanley they were of "secular" origin. 
They were appropriated at different times by certain 
religious leaders in order to entice and allure the 
heathen into the christian fold. But in doing so they 
did not find a convenient stopping place until by 
additions, by substr actions, by substitutions, by ob- 
scurations, and by misconstructions they not only 
changed the form but even the meaning of apostolic 
institutions. These things are well known to students 
of genuine church history. So in studying Catholic 
institutions we may expect to find many radical de- 
partures from the teachings of the New Testament, 
and we will find extremely radical departures from 
it. 

1. The papacy is undoubtedly of secular origin. 
On this point see Schaff's "Church History;" Dean 
Stanley's "Christian Institutions;" "Bryce's Holy 
Roman Empire;" Uhlhorn's "Conflict of Christianity 
with Heathenism;" "A Manual of Church History," 
by A. H. Newman ; and many others. Stanley says : 
"When Bishop Dupanloup, in a Pamphlet on "L' 
Atheism et le Peril Social," described the desertion 
of the Holy Father by the late Emperor of France, 
it was more appropriate than he thought when he 
said, "The grand Pontiff covers his face with his 
mantle, and says, " Et tu fili. ' ' It was a Grand Pon- 
tiff who so covered his face, and who so exclaimed; 

[49] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

but that Pontiff was Julius Caesar, to whose office the 
Pope has directly succeeded." Stanley further says: 
1 ' The secular origin of the primacy of Rome belongs, 
in fact, to the secular origin of much beside in the 
early customs of the church, illustrating and illus- 
trated by them. ' ' He also mentions the fact that the 
Pope regards himself as an Italian Bishop and an 
Italian Prince. The papal office is purely Italian. 
It has been a long time since one not an Italian has 
been elected pope. So that in so far as the pope 
demands obedience in secular affairs from Catholics 
living in, and being citizens of, other countries, he 
requires of them obedience to an Italian prince. They 
must follow the papal flag as well as that of the 
country in which they live. This is the political part. 
This is the point where the pope interferes with the 
civil governments of different countries. During the 
middle ages the pope of Rome and the Emperors of 
the Holy Roman Empire were oftentimes in deadly 
conflict. For centuries many of the kings of Eng- 
land, of France, and of Germany have had long and 
bitter controversies over this point. The pope claimed 
the right to dethrone kings and sometimes did so. 
Sometimes he set up kings. Sometimes he absolved 
people from their oaths of loyalty to their rulers. 
Popes have exercised much power in this respect. This 
is the ground of opposition to Catholics in many 
places now. Most self-respecting governments deny 
the right of the pope to interfere in their political 
and civil affairs. It produces strife. It creates bit- 

[50] 



The Pope Considered 

terness. The contest does not yet seem to be ended. 
But it would seem that the doctrine of the separation 
of church from state is rapidly going forward, and 
that the Pope's claim to temporal sovereignty is not 
gaining in respect and power. Two flags and two sets 
of civil rulers are too many for any one country. It 
can not last. We do not need any Papal flag in this 
country . The start and stripes are enough. Among 
us the Constitution, alone must prevail. "We will 
never submit to the rule of an Italian prince. We 
do not need him. 

2. The New Testament both directly and indirectly 
is against the papal claims to overlordship and pri- 
macy. Take Mat. 19: 27-30: "Then answered Peter 
and said unto him, Lo we have left all, and followed 
thee : what then shall we have ? ' ' And Jesus said unto 
them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have fol- 
lowed me in the regeneration when the Son of man 
shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit 
upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel. And every one that hath left bouses, or 
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, 
or lands, for my sake, shall receive a hundredfold, 
and shall inherit eternal life. ' ' The "Ye" shows that 
the others were equals with Peter. But there is a 
passage direct and decisive: Mark 10:35-45. The 
mother of James and John asked the favor of her 
sons sitting the one on his right side and the other 
on his left side in his glory, then Jesus among other 
things said: "Ye know they which are accounted to 

[5i] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

rule over the Gentiles lord it over them; and their 
great ones exercise authority over them. But it is 
not so among you: but whosoever would become 
great among you, shall be minister (servant) : and 
whosoever would be first among you, shall be servant 
of all. For verily the Son of man came not to be 
ministered unto but to minister, and give his life a 
ransom for many." The parallel passage in Luke 
22: 24-27 has these words: "But ye shall not be so." 
The passage in Mat/20 :25-28 is as follows: "But 
Jesus called them unto him, and said, ye know that 
the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their 
great ones exercise authority over them. Not so 
shall it be among you, but whosoever would become 
great among you shall be your minister (servant) ; 
and whosoever would be first among you shall be 
your servant (bondservant) : even as the Son of man 
came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and 
to give his life a ransom for many." So we have the 
account in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This means 
that the thought went deep into their hearts. It 
was something new. They were to be different from 
the Gentiles. That is what Jesus intended it to be. 
They were not to lord it over one another. That is 
what Jesus plainly said. They were not to exercise 
authority over another. Now with these verses com- 
pare Mat. 23: 8-12, "But be not ye called Rabbi: for 
one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. And 
call no man father on earth : for one is your Father, 
which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: 

[52] 



The Pope Considered 

for one is your master, even the Christ. But he that 
it greatest among you shall be your servant. And 
whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and 
whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted. " 
"All ye are brethren." "Neither be ye called 
masters." "Call no man your father on earth." 
The word "pope" means "father." The Catholic 
priests all over the world want the people to call 
them "father." Nothing could be more squarely 
against the plain command of Christ than this. These 
passages are all against the primacy of Peter. The 
Democratic teachings of Christ found it hard to set 
aside the lording it over the people. Lording it was 
the Gentile fashion. Jesus did not want that. The 
teachings of Christ are in our own time beginning to 
be understood. Many peoples are now for the first 
time ceasing to call their rulers masters. The world 
is now waking up to the teachings of Jesus that God 
is "father" and "all ye are brethren." Jesus said 
that the leaven would permeate the whole lump, and 
it is doing so; but, it is doing so in spite of the 
Roman Catholic church, "princes of the church," 
"cardinals," and all sorts of classes and ranks. It 
would seem that these passages were put into the 
New Testament by Divine inspiration that they 
might in all ages condemn each and every effort 
towards the primacy of every one in church and state 
who would turn himself into an enemy of human 
liberty whether civil or religious. And all such 
tyrants will forever feel insecure in heart and place 

[53] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

so long as these words are read by human beings. 
They will ever keep alive in the human breast the 
great fact that man is made in the image of God 
and that no tyrant has a right to trample that image 
in the dust. The New Testament will finally free 
the world from all tyrants both temporal and 
spiritual. Wherever it goes, liberty goes. Where it 
is suppressed, tyrants flourish. 

3. The Jerusalem meeting recorded in the fif- 
teenth chapter of Acts is decisive against the pri- 
macy of Peter. Paul and Barnabas had been at 
Antioch teaching justification by faith. "And 
certain men came down from Judea and taught the 
brethren, saying, except ye be circumsized after 
the custom of Moses, ye can not be saved." They 
wanted to put circumcision in between the penitent 
and Christ. They wanted to put it where the 
Catholics want to put baptism. "And when Paul 
and Barnabas had no small dissention and question- 
ing with them the brethren appointed that Paul and 
Barnabas and certain other of them, should go up to 
Jerusalem unto the Apostles and elders about this 
question/' Why "unto the apostles and elders ?" 
If Peter was pope and was infallible when speaking 
ex cathedra, why not get him alone to decide it once 
and forever, as it was, according to Catholics, in his 
province and his business? Why go unto the 
"apostles and elders?" If Peter was primate what 
business was it to them ? They went up to Jerusalem 
and in the first meeting Peter spake as follows: 

[54] 



The Pope Considered 

"Brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God 
made choice among you, that by my mouth the 
Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and 
believe. And God, which knoweth the heart, bare 
witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did 
unto us ; and he made no distinction between us and 
them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore 
why tempt ye God, that ye should put a yoke upon 
the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers 
nor we are able to bear? But we believe that we 
shall be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus, 
even in like manner as they." Note closely Peter 
does not claim primacy here nor does he exer- 
cise it. Had he been primate, here was the place to 
claim it and to exercise it. But he makes no such 
claim and the other apostles do not seem to know 
anything about any such theory at all. Note further- 
more that Peter makes a speech fully vindicating the 
doctrine of justification by faith; "cleansing their 
hearts by faith." "The Gentiles should hear the 
w r ord of the gospel and believe," "we shall be saved 
through the grace of the Lord Jesus." The matter 
was decided by "the apostles and the elders, with 
the whole church." It was decided against the 
Judaizers. The meaning was that circumcision was 
not necessary to salvation ; it was not to come in be- 
tween the penitent and the Savior. Faith alone is 
between the sinner and the Savior. This was the 
Apostolic decision in Jerusalem after prolonged dis- 
cussion. They wrote a letter to the "Gentiles in 

[55] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

Antioch" giving their decision against the Judaizers. 
"And when they had read it, they rejoiced for con- 
solation.' ' Now if they had known other conditions 
of salvation besides faith, why did not they say so 
at that time and place ? The doctrine of justification 
by faith is the doctrine of Peter's speech, of the 
Jerusalem meeting, of the epistle to the Romans, of 
the epistle of the Galatians, of the gospel of John, 
and of the whole New Testament. Nothing can be 
clearer. The Catholics refer to Mat. 16:18 as 
authority, for the primacy of Peter. But turn on two 
chapters further. Mat 18:18 and we read: "Verily I 
say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on 
earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things so- 
ever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in 
heaven.' ' Here all of the apostles are included show- 
ing that Peter has no primacy and no overlordship 
at all that can be called exclusive. The plural "ye" 
fixes the matter. The other apostles received the 
same kind and quantity of power that Peter did; no 
more, no less. 

4. There are other passages which teach the same 
equality. "And when he had said this, he breathed 
on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost, whose soever sins ye forgive, they are for- 
given unto them; whose sins ye retain, they are re- 
tained." John 20:22-23. "So then ye are no more 
strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens 
with the saints, and of the household of God, being 

[56] 



The Pope Considered 

built upon the foundation of the apostles and pro- 
phets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner 
stone." Eph. 2:19-20. 



[57] 



CHAPTER XIII 
Mary the Mother of our Lord 

THE NEW TESTAMENT gives a wonderful pic- 
ture of the mother of our Lord. The descrip- 
tion of her is well-nigh perfect. Nothing finer has 
ever been expressed in human language. It satisfies 
the greatest demands of the human intellect. It 
confirms the will. It touches the heart. It has been 
a comfort to millions of mothers for hundreds of 
years. It is one of the glories of revelation. It is a 
monument to the excellence of the gospel. It is so 
full and satisfactory that it admits of no addition. 
Anything like enlargement would injure rather than 
improve it. No pious mind would for a moment 
entertain the thought of taking any part of it out of 
the book of Revelation. It is unique. It stands 
alone. Wisely has inspiration placed it. It is best 
for it ever to remain there free from the inter- 
meddling of those who vainly think they can by 
artistic touches improve it. The New Testament 
does not say that the blessed Mary is an object of 
worship or a mediatrix between the penitent and the 
Son. 

1. When Catholics are charged with worshipping 
our Lord's mother, they reply that they do not give 

[58] 



Mary the Mother of Our Lord 

her the highest worship, but only great reverence. 
They make room for degrees of worship. Accord- 
ing to the New Testament she is not an object of 
genuine worship of any kind or degree. The idea 
of various grades of worship is a snare and a delu- 
sion. As a matter of fact millions of Catholics 
worship her and some of them do not hesitate to say 
they do. A Catholic woman not long ago said: "I 
do not know the Father and Jesus and others ; but I 
know Mary and I pray to her. ' ' Nor is she a media- 
trix between the Son and the sinner. This office is 
not ascribed to her in the Bible. " There is one 
Mediator between God and man, himself man, Christ 
Jesus. ' ' The definite affirmation of only one excludes 
all others. 

2. Pope Pius IX said : ' ' God has vested in her the 
plenitude of all good, so that henceforth, if there be 
in us any hope, if there be any grace, if there be any 
salvation, we must receive it solely from her, accord- 
ing to the will of him who would have us possess all 
things through Mary." 

Dr. Schaff, than whom there is no higher authority 
on this topic, in speaking of the doctrine of the 
1 ' immaculate conception ' ? says : 

"From the Roman standpoint this dogma com- 
pletes the Mariology and Mariolatry, which, step by 
step, proceeded from the perpetual virginity of 
Mary to her freedom from actual sin after the con- 
ception of the Savior, then to freedom from sin after 
her birth, and at last to her freedom from original 

[59] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

or hereditary sin. The only thing now left is to 
proclaim the dogma of her assumption to heaven, 
which has long been a pious opinion in the Roman 
Church. To this corresponds the progress in the 
worship of Mary, and the multiplication of her 
festivals. Her worship even overshadows the wor- 
ship of Christ. She, the tender, compassionate, 
lovely woman, is invoked for her powerful inter- 
cession, rather than her divine Son. She is made the 
fountain of all good grace, the mediatrix between 
Christ and the believer, and is virtually put in the 
place of the Holy Ghost. There is scarcely an 
epithet of Christ which devout Roman Catholics do 
not apply to the Virgin; and Pope Pius IX, sanc- 
tioned the false interpretation of Gen. 3 :15, that she 
(not Christ) crushed the head of the serpent." Note 
closely this passage from Dr. Schaff : "Her worship 
even overshadows the worship of Christ. ' ' In many 
instances it has become a substitute for that of the 
Son. "She is invoked rather than her divine Son." 

3. Jesus taught things which were evidently in- 
tended to prevent this very state of things. How 
strange that He tells men to do one thing and they 
will do the very opposite and claim that they are 
doing so in his name and by his authority. "While 
he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold his 
mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to 
speak to him. And one said unto him, Behold thy 
mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to 
speak to thee. But he answered and said unto him 

[60] 



Mary the Mother of Our Lord 

that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my 
brethren ? And he stretched forth his hand towards 
his disciples and said, Behold my mother and my 
brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my 
father which is in heaven, he is my brother, and 
sister, and mother.' ' Mat 12:46-50. "And there 
come his mother and his brethren; and standing 
without, they sent unto him, calling him. And a 
multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto 
him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without 
seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, 
who is my mother and my brethren? And looking 
round on them which sat about him, he saith, Behold, 
my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall 
do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, 
and mother." Mark 3:31-35. "And there came to 
him his mother and brethren, and they could not 
come at him for the crowd. And it was told him, Thy 
mother and brethren stand without, desiring to see 
thee. But he answered and said unto them, My 
mother and my brethren are these which hear the 
word of God, and do it." Luke 8:19-21. Here he 
positively declares that in the Kingdom of God 
mere relationship of blood has no spiritual signifi- 
cance and no special claim as such: "For whosoever 
shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, 
he is my brother, and sister, and mother." Mat. 
12 :50. "For whosoever shall do the will of God, the 
same is my brother, and sister, and mother." 

[6i] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

Mark 3 :35. "My mother and my brethren are these 
which hear the word of God and do it." Luke 8 : 21. 
All true Christians are priests unto God. They 
plead the efficacy of the great sacrific made once for 
all. "Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from 
our sins by his blood; and he made us to be a king- 
dom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him 
be the glory and dominion forever and ever." Eev. 
1 :6. Far better to follow the plainly written word 
than to be led by the vain attempts to improve the 
work of the Holy Spirit. There is only one object 
of worship and He is the triune God. There is only 
one mediator between God and men and he is our 
Lord Jesus Christ, to whom every penitent has direct 
access and with whom he may have unrestricted 
fellowship. There is no need of any other mediator. 



[62] 



CHAPTER XIV 
The Invocation of Saints 

CATHOLICS pray to the saints that the saints 
may pray for them. The invocation of Mary, 
the mother of our Lord, is based on the idea that her 
kinship to the Son gives her prayers special weight 
and efficacy. The invocation of saints is based on their 
supposed works of supererogation. The Rev. Bertrand 
L. Conway, a Catholic priest, states the doctrine thus : 
"Catholics believe that many members of the church 
— for instance, virgins, martyrs, confessors, and 
countless saints — have performed penances far ex- 
ceeding what was due their sins, and that their merits 
in union with the infinite merits of Jesus Christ form 
a spiritual treasury, which the apostles and their suc- 
cessors can draw from to pay the debt of temporal 
punishment for all who belong to the communion of 
saints." Question Box, p. 287. 

1. There is no New Testament authority at all for 
this : on the other hand it teaches that after we have 
done all we must say that "we are unprofitable ser- 
vants." Moreover, if the "merits of Jesus Christ" 
are "infinite," what need is there of any merits of 
saints? Is not Christ alone enough? Do not the 
merits of Christ constitute a "spiritual treasury" 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

sufficient for all penitents for all time? These so- 
called saints have not any such merits; but, suppose 
they did have, why add the light of the glow worm to 
that of the midday sun? Why add one rain drop to 
the Atlantic ocean ? Are the merits of Christ deficient 
in quantity? Are they not enough? "When Jesus 
said: "it is finished," did he imply that his infinite 
atonement could be helped out by the filthy rags of 
human righteousness ? Does not the whole conception 
imply a shortage in the atonement made by the Son 
of God ? Is there not a littleness about all this which 
is utterly unworthy of the glorious gospel of the Son 
of God ? Is there any deficiency in the quality of the 
sacrifice? Is not the blood of Jesus Christ his Son 
able to cleanse us from all sins ? He was delivered up 
because of our offences and raised because «of our jus- 
tification. The debt was paid and the prisoner, there- 
fore, was set free. The atonement was complete and 
therefore the grave could not hold our Lord and he 
rose from the dead. The fact of the resurrection 
shows that the sacrifice was fully satisfactory to God 
the Father. It does not need any supplement. The 
Holy Spirit applies it and the sinner is saved. The 
boundlessness of the grace of God is the colossal out- 
standing fact of the gospel truth. These pitiful 
human inventions from heathen sources are both little 
and belittling. They degrade the dignity of the 
human personality and trail the majesty of God in 
the dust. The infinitude of the price paid by the 
Lord Jesus as the penalty of our sins is the thought 



The Invocation of Saints 

which inspiration is always trying to hold up before 
the gaze of man. Nothing is to come in between the 
sinner and the Savior. The view of faith looking to 
Jesus must not be obstructed. This is the New Testa- 
ment conception. 

2. This doctrine of the invocation of saints implies 
that Christ must be begged and persuaded much and 
by many people before he is willing to save the peni- 
tent. This is a great error. He is always fully will- 
ing. The heathen idea was, and is, that God is full 
of anger, resentment, and must be appeased and 
coaxed lest he send forth evidences of his vengeance. 
Hence, their magic rites to gain his favor. But Jesus 
made it possible for God to be just and the justifier 
of every one that believes, and our Father calls us 
to come back home and he welcomes the prodigal even 
when he is afar off. The gospel is full of grace and 
love. "Our Father" is no heathen deity. He calls 
his wandering children home. They do not need to 
beg him to open the door of grace. It always stands 
open. Jesus said: "Behold, I stand at the door and 
knock : if any man hear my voice and open the door, 
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he 
with me." Rev. 3: 20. The sinner has his door shut 
and Jesus wants him to open it. He seeks the sinner. 
That God gives and man receives is the Gospel. He 
begs the sinner to be saved ; and is grieved when men 
turn away from Him. The intercession of the saints 
is not needed. "He ever liveth to make intercession 
for us" with the Father; that is his work. Will he 

[65] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

then be hard to be approached by us in our time of 
need? 

3 The invocation of saints means one creature 
praying to another creature. God alone is the one 
to whom we are to pray. He alone is the source of 
our help. The creature ought to pray to the Creator. 
The finite, through Christ, can lay hold of the 
infinite. No saint that ever lived has the sweet, 
tender, refined, sympathetic, uplifting feeling for the 
penitent that Jesus has by virtue of his human na- 
ture. This is why he became man that he might be 
such an approachable Savior. He himself, in his own 
personality without the help of others, is entirely 
competent, in every respect, to be the Savior we need 
in all circumstances and in all times. This is what 
the New Testament teaches and it has been abun- 
dantly confirmed by the sweet experience of millions 
of men. The so-called saints are not omnipresent, and 
are therefore not capable of hearing people pray at 
different parts of the earth at the same time; and, 
if they could, there is not the slightest reason for 
thinking they could render aid of any kind. 

In the book of Eevelation we have an example of an 
attempted act of veneration or worship of a servant 
of the Lord. "And he saith unto me, These are true 
words of God. And I fell down before his feet to 
worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it 
not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy 
brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: Worship 
God : for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of Proph- 

[66] 



The Invocation of Saints 

ecy." Rev 19:10. The command given was 
"worship God." The specification of one is the denial 
of others, and all others. The worship of God pre- 
cludes and excludes the worship of every creature. 
Jesus saith : ' ' Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written, 
thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only 
shalt thou serve." Nothing could be more specific 
and more definite. It shuts out forever all other ob- 
jects of worship. Jesus, in talking to one plain, simple 
woman, put the whole subject of worship where it 
can not be misunderstood. "But the hour cometh, 
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship 
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father 
seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit: and 
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and 
in truth. ' ' John 4 : 23, 24. ' ' The Father seeketh such 
to worship Him. " " And Him only shalt thou serve. ' ? 
Jesus said : l ' Him that cometh to me I will in no wise 
cast out. " "I am the bread of life : he that cometh to 
me shall never hunger: and he that believeth on me 
shall never thirst." John 6: 35. "He that believeth 
on the Son hath everlasting life. " John 3: 36. Thus 
saith Jehovah: " cursed is the man that trusteth in 
man, that maketh flesh his arm;" and "Blessed is the 
man that trusteth in Jehovah and whose trust 
Jehovah is. ' ' Jer. 17 :5-7. 



[<&] 



CHAPTER XV 
Contrasts 

ONE who is acquainted with both the New Testa- 
ment and with Roman Catholic doctrines will 
observe many sharp contrasts between them. The 
reason for this is that some «of these doctrines are 
drawn from the New Testament and some of them had 
their origin in the history, the rites, and the social 
customs of the heathen Roman Empire. What can not 
be explained from one source can easily be explained 
from the other. Knowing these facts, one can by 
mental analysis take the whole system apart, like 
taking out the wheels of a watch, and see from what 
place each item came. Later in the centuries it be- 
came desirable to deny their heathen origin and an 
attempt was made to claim scriptural authority for 
practically all points. But this is an impossible task. 
That which came from the New Testament can be 
explained easily by it and that which came from 
heathen sources can be explained by Roman historical 
elements. This is the key to the situation. Here is 
historical development. First were sharp antago- 
nisms and afterwards coalescings. The result was a 
complicated mixture. Some of these contrasts may 
be noted. 

[68] 



Contrasts 

1. The New Testament says: "Christ is the head 
of the church." Eph. 6: 23; Col. 2: 19; Col. 2: 10. 
The Catholics say the Pope is the head of the church. 
Both statements can not be true. 

2. The New Testament churches were spiritual 
democracies. The Catholic church is one external 
monarchy, copied from the Roman Empire. 

3. The New Testament teaches coming to Christ 
through faith. The Catholics teach coming to Christ 
through sacraments. These two things are wide apart ; 
and S'0 wide apart that they can never be reconciled ; 
such a thing is beyond hope. 

4. The New Testament holds to the faith "once 
for all delivered to the saints," and allows no addi- 
tions and no subtractions. The Catholics have the 
New Testament but add on enough traditions almost 
to submerge it. 

5. The New Testament challenges the fullest inves- 
tigation: "Search the scriptures." The Catholic 
church, meaning the priesthood, gives out what is to 
be believed. They say what shall be read and what 
construction is to be put upon it. This alone is allow- 
able. 

6. Catholics make a distinction between "the 
church" and "the faithful." The church is "the 
priesthood," "the faithful" are the hosts below the 
priesthood. The New Testament teaches spiritual 
equality and brotherhood. "All ye be brethren." 
The Catholic church has many ranks, grades, classes, 
and distinctions. 

[69] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

7. The New Testament teaches and favors human 
freedom personal, religious, and civil. Catholics 
favored enemies of freedom : for example Louis XIV ; 
Charles II; and James II; and many others. The 
Catholic Bossuet says: "God establishes kings as His 
ministers, and reigns through them over the nations. " 
"Boyal authority is absolute. " "The prince is not 
accountable to any one for his orders." "Obedience 
must be rendered to princes as to Justice herself." 
"They are gods, and in a measure participate in the 
Divine independence." "Subjects have only respect- 
ful remonstrance to oppose to violence of princes, and 
must neither mutiny nor murmur. ' ' See De Laveleye. 

8. The New Testament says: "there is one media- 
tor between God and men." The Catholic church 
teaches that there are many mediators: the priests, 
the saints, and the mother of our Lord. Christ says : 
"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden." The Catholics say: "Go to the priests and 
confess." The New Testament puts the sinner into 
the hands of Christ; the Catholics put him into the 
hands of the priests; one sinner into the hands of 
another sinner ; one creature into the hands of another 
creature; weakness into the hands of weakness. 

9. The New Testament is for all and demands to 
be read by all. It appeals to the entire personality 
and is capable of infinite adaptation and workableness 
among all nations in all time. It has stood all tests. 
"When Catholics read the Bible it must be a version 
approved by the priesthood, and they must put no 

[70] 



Contrasts 

construction upon it but what they are told by the 
priesthood to put upon it. Catholics appeal largely 
to the feelings, the imagination, t-o the credulity of 
men; they do not try specially to develop spiritual 
power but obedience to the church. 

10. The New Testament emphasizes the great will- 
ingness of Christ to receive the penitent sinner 
directly to himself, at any time, any where, without 
rite, ceremony, priest, or person «of any kind, when 
such a one comes to him and desires forgiveness. This 
is what Jesus taught and impressed upon men above 
everything else. Language is strained to express all 
the fulness of his idea. He taught this and practiced 
it so much so that men said: "This man receiveth 
sinners." They said truly. He allowed nothing to 
come in between him and the sinner. This point is 
the wonder of Revelation. But the Roman Catholic 
Church puts four blocks of doctrine between Christ 
and the penitent sinner. Christ tried by love to 
allure men to himself. The Catholics by their many 
formalities, rites, and intercessions make the impres- 
sion that Christ must be begged much and a long time 
before he is inclined to turn a listening ear to the 
needy cry of the sinner who wants his sins taken away. 
The two systems are so far apart that they can not 
have originated either from the same spirit or from 
the same source. They are two spheres which natur- 
ally exclude each other. They teach irreconcilably 
different methods of approach to the Savior. They 
will never be harmonized. One looks in one direction 

[7i] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

and the other looks in an opposite direction. They 
did not come from the same mind. If one came from 
above, the other came from below. If the «one came 
from God, the other came from man. If one shows 
divine wisdom, the other shows human weakness, 
folly, and lack of spiritual elevation. 

11. The Son of man had not where to lay his head. 
The popes have always reached out after lands, money, 
worldly power, and political influence. Until 1870 the 
pope had much territory. He has had for centuries 
millions of dollars income every year. His palace 
now has eleven thousand rooms in it. Jesus said to 
Peter : ' * Put up thy sword ; they that take the sword 
shall perish by the sword. " But many of the popes 
have brought on many wars and shed much blood. 
Christ refused to be a divider of inheritance but the 
popes have claimed power to divide the earth and to 
set up and take down kings and rulers. Jesus said: 
"My kingdom is not of this world." But the pope 
perpetually complains that his temporal power was 
taken away from him, and he sends ambassadors to 
every country that will receive them in order that he 
may appear to be a king, a civil ruler, a mighty man 
of valor among the civil governments of the earth. 
Jesus never had any soldiers to guard him; but the 
pope has had for a long time his Swiss soldiers guard- 
ing him. Jesus never had any flag ; but the pope has 
his flag in every country which will permit it. Jesus 
said: "Love your enemies." The pope hurls furious 
words at his enemies and puts upon them his anath- 

[72] 



Contrasts 

ema. He sometimes pronounces special curses of great 
length and bitterness against those who have aroused 
his anger. 



[73] 



CHAPTER XVI 

Assumptions 

ASSUMPTIONS can be held tentatively. But 
they must be sooner or later subjected to tests. 
The mind seeks truth.' It desires to show facts. The 
craving is for things scientifically adjusted. "We do 
not feel bound by false theories of past ages. If 
things stand the most searching and conclusive tests, 
they can then take their places among well estab- 
lished and usable facts. If in the process of testing 
they are found to be untrustworthy they are to be 
rejected, no matter how long held, nor by whom 
stoutly maintained. The most rigid scientific method 
must have full sway in investigation. Truth can 
stand the severest crucible. It is a woeful mistake 
to suppose that truth will suffer from an abundance 
of light. If the light be geuine, the more of it the 
better. This has been true of the past and will be 
true of the future. For ages it was held practically 
by all that the sun went around the earth, but that 
highly plausible assumption, when tested, was found 
to be false; and so, notwithstanding its hoary age, 
it was necessarily rejected. When Prof. Morse 
was working on telegraphy, the assumption was 
oftentimes confidently asserted that it was impos- 

[74] 



Assumptions 

sible to communicate intelligence a long distance by 
means of a wire. The assumption that men could 
never fly was thought to be full of wisdom. For 
many ages, the assumption that kings have a right 
to rule over the masses, and even to fleece them was 
so strong that all democratic tendencies were put 
down by an iron hand with approval. Several quo- 
tations have already been given from Bossuet on 
this point. It was a universally favorite assumption 
that night air was the cause of malaria. That the 
earth was flat was by millions of men for ages held 
to be so self evident a proposition as to be denied 
only by the weakminded. When Galileo challenged 
a long cherished assumption, he found things made 
uncomfortable for him. When Socrates called in 
question numerous commonplace assumptions pre- 
vailing among the masses, he was compelled to drink 
a beverage which put him to sleep. In our time, no 
assumption is safe from challenge on account of old 
age, or because held by many, or because widely 
spread over the earth. Whenever the proper tests 
are applied to it, it must be found to be true or it 
must be eliminated. Institutions claiming Bible 
authority must be able satisfactorily to present the 
authority on which they stand, or submit to the 
necessity of having their claims disallowed. Mere 
assertions do not carry us forward. Sheer declara- 
tions do not make progress. Many religious denomi- 
nations have great and accurate scholars who have 
examined the New Testament from every standpoint 

[75] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

and they have practically agreed as to what it teaches 
and they have published their conclusions. So we 
are not in doubt as to what that book teaches. We 
are able to measure the Catholic Church by it. We 
can with certainty find out whether the papal doc- 
trines are to be found within it or whether they had 
their rise from other sources. If certain teachings 
are contrary to the New Testament, how can they 
be accepted by one who accepts the New Testament? 
Can contraries be trtfe at the same time and place? 
Can the Pope and Christ both be head of the church 
at the same time? Can the Roman Catholic church 
and the New Testament both be supreme law at the 
same time when they teach opposite things ? Which 
must have the main track? As between the two, 
Cardinal Manning says the church must in these 
words: "The appeal from the living voice of the 
church to any tribunal whatever, human history in- 
cluded, is an act of private judgment, and a treason, 
because that living voice is supreme; and to appeal 
from that supreme voice is also a heresy, because 
that voice, by Divine assistance is infallible.' ' There 
are those, however, notwithstanding that, who follow 
the New Testament because that represents the mind 
of the Master, and they hold that the following 
propositions are assumptions and need to be proved 
before they can be received as true : — 

1. That Peter was made Christ's vicegerent on 
earth. Their claim as to Mat. 16 :18 is shown to be a 
mistake by Mat. 18 : 18 and hundreds of other verses. 

[76] 



Assumptions 

2. That the apostles and their successors are "the 
church,' ' which is the priesthood, and that those 
below them are "the faithful." 

3. That the bread and the wine can be changed 
into the real body of the Lord at the priest's bid- 
ding. 

4. That their church government is of divine 
origin. It is manifestly a copy of the secular Eoman 
Empire. 

5 That they alone have the right to put construc- 
tions on the words and verses of the New Testament ; 
that they are its only interpreters. 

6. That there is a purgatory. 

7. That the pope has jurisdiction in temporal 
affairs, or even in anything. 

8. That tradition can be made an authority equal 
to that of Scripture. 

9. That the sacraments are channels of grace. 

10. That priests are to come in between the peni- 
tent sinner and the loving Savior as mediators. 

No one of these propositions can be accepted with- 
out proof and proof different from, and better than, 
any they have yet produced. 



[77] 



CHAPTER XVII 
By Their Fruits 

DID CHRIST furnish any test by which man can 
tell a false teacher from a true one, and false 
doctrines from true ones ? Or did he leave the world 
in the dark ? Did he leave everything vague and un- 
certain? May his people know when they have true 
prophets? Can they have spiritual power to detect 
"false prophets ?" Has he given them any rule 
by which they may reach certitude in this respect? 
Is there any such test given to men? And if so, 
what is that test? Can the test, if there be such, 
be applied by all, or only by a part? If only a part, 
what part? Did Jesus leave his people helpless as 
sheep among a pack of wolves? Did he mean to 
make it possible for them to know, or did he leave 
them defenseless so they could be plundered by 
imposters? He meant they should "know" and he 
said so. He has given a single definite rule, capable 
of wide application by his people for their protection. 
Can we know false prophets? Jesus says we can. 
This is the law he has given us on this point. "By 
their fruits ye shall know them." "Ye shall know" 
— not guess. Ye know "their fruits" — this is an 
admitted fact; all admit that. Well, then, by their 

[78] 



By Their Fruits 

fruits ye shall know them? Note carefully the specific 
objective point. THEY, themselves, are the objects 
of investigation. What are THEY? Jesus says you 
know the fruits of men. You know their w r ords, 
their deeds, their aims, their motives as manifested 
by their acts. This much is certain; well, then, by 
their fruits ye shall know THEM. The outer per- 
formances are the results of inner thoughts, of 
secret motives, of hidden personality. "Do men 
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so 
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the 
corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree 
can not bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt 
tree bring forth good fruit." Then Jesus repeats 
the words: "By their fruits ye shall know them." 
Mat. 7 :15-27 for the whole passage. A good tree 
brings forth good fruit and a corrupt tree brings 
forth corrupt fruit. 

Paul, the great interpreter of the mind of the 
Master, applies this rule in the Epistle to the Gala- 
tians 5: 16-24. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithful- 
ness, meekness, temperance : against such there is no 
law." Where these things are the fruits, you know 
they are from the Spirit. They could spring from no 
other source. The works of the flesh are evil fruits 
and spring from an evil tree. Now they "are 
manifest," "fornication, uncleaness, lasciviousness, 
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strifes, jealousies, wraths, 
factions, divisions, heresies (parties), envyings, 

[79] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

drunkenness, revellings, and such like." Here is 
applied the rule: "By their fruits ye shall know 
them." There are three things about this rule: — 

1. It is a simple test. It can easily be applied by 
all, high and low ; rich and poor ; wise and ignorant ; 
young and old. Several years ago, five men were out 
in a yard one summer evening talking. One, looking 
at a tree not far off, asked: "What kind of a tree 
is that?" Different answers were given. At length 
one man said: "I see fruit on it; let us examine 
that for it will tell." It had peaches on it. That 
fact decided it was a peach tree. The kind of fruit 
decides the kind of tree. It does not take a Solomon 
to measure by this rule. 

2. It is a universal test. It applies everywhere, 
in one part of the world as well as in another; in 
one age as well as in another; among one race as 
w T ell as among another. It applies in every place. It 
applies to religion. 

3. It is an infallible test. It yields accurate re- 
sults. It is reliable. In reasonable application it 
can be depended upon. If here is an apple growing, 
then it is growing on an apple tree. Here is a tree 
which has apricots on one side and peaches on the 
other side; well, then it has an apricot element and a 
peach element. The one is grafted on the other. A 
tree is known by its fruits. 

So in the Roman Catholic church there are two 
different elements ; one has been grafted on the other. 
There is a New Testament element and a heathen 

[8o] 



By Their Fruits 

Eoman element grafted on it. This gives two differ- 
ent general ideals ; two standards of morals ; and two 
different spheres of operation. One element is found 
in the New Testament, the other element is found in 
adaptations of heathen rites, in historical develop- 
ment, in canon law, in the decrees of councils, in the 
writings of the so-called fathers, and in the bulls of 
the popes. The conflict between these two things is 
irrepressible. The tendency among the Catholics is 
to suppress or hold in abeyance the New Testament 
element and to enlarge and magnify the other element. 
The tendency of the anti-catholic element is to mag- 
nify the New Testament and to eliminate or reduce 
to a minimum the other element. These two elements 
are the inner and the outer; the spiritual and the 
temporal ; the pure and the impure ; the heavenly and 
the earthly; Love and hate; Democracy and mon- 
archy ; peace and war ; knowledge and ignorance ; the 
sincere and the deceptive; local self control and the 
tyranny of the pope ; the other world and this world. 
Each element is to be explained from the standpoint 
of its 'origin. The parable of the tares applies here. 
The seed sown was good but an enemy sowed tares 
among the wheat. The Eoman Empire was in its 
different aspects a composite and eclectic system. Its 
various parts had come from different sources at 
different times in different circumstances. It had be- 
come the great world power. At first Christianity 
was a pure, simple, spiritual force designed to leaven 
the whole lump to itself. These two forces entirely 

[81] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

different came into conflict. So long as Christianity 
kept the spiritual aim in view it remained compara- 
tively pure. But, at length, the Christians found it 
easier to absorb than to fight; to adapt than to con- 
quer; to conciliate than to leaven. This was done 
gradually and at different times. But the work was 
effectively accomplished. Many books on this point 
may be consulted. A few here suggested : ' ' Christian 
Institutions," by A. P. Stanley; " Conflict of Chris- 
tianity with Heathenism," by Uhlhorn; Bryce's 
1 ' Holy Roman Empire ; ' ' Schaff 's ' ' Church History ; ' ' 
"A Manual of Church History," by A. H. Newman; 
Hase, Hurst, Milman, Gibbon, and many others. In 
this ultimate fusion both Christianity and heathenism 
were modified. This combination and coalescing put 
on the stage a strange, fearful, and powerful force of 
vast importance. Running through the entire struc- 
ture are two entirely different elements. One is a 
New Testament element and the other is a Roman 
Empire element, w T hich is heathen to the core. This 
alliance gave rise to two standards; the first is the 
New Testament. The second is Roman law, customs, 
and religious ideas and rites. These two different 
standards are abundantly seen: — 

I. In two sets of OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. The 
objects of worship in kind are two. 1. There is the 
worship of -one God. This comes from the New Tes- 
tament. This one God, as creator, is omnipotent, om- 
niscient, eternal, holy, just, good. The Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit are one in essence, nature, being. 

[82] 



By Their Fruits 

They hold in full to the trinity. They hold the deity 
of the Son, the personality of the Holy Spirit, the in- 
spiration of the Bible, Man's need of salvation, the 
ability of Jesus to save, the obligation to spread the 
gospel, the resurrection of the body, and the judg- 
ment to come, heaven, and life everlasting. Along 
with these things go the moral and social elements of 
the New Testament. The idea of a loving father is 
here held out. Surely that is enough. It would be 
but for this coalescing. The other element must be 
taken care of also. 2. So, then, the heathen element 
calls for OTHER OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. There 
is the worship of creatures. There are the prayers to 
saints. Finite, weak, helpless creatures praying to 
finite, weak, helpless creatures. Prayers to so called 
departed saints are very nigh akin to the ancestral 
worship of the people of China. Heathen ideals and 
practices are much in vogue. These objects of wor- 
ship are very numerous and are supposed to be very 
influential for the benefit of the earthly helpless. Here 
is the perpetuation of the ancient Roman heathen 
temple service in its true essence and nature. The 
vital idea of this element is that a merciless God's 
anger must be appeased; that his wrath must be 
warded off; that this relentless God is hard to ap- 
proach ; that the sacraments have magical force ; and 
that these finite beings can be used to advantage. It 
knows little or nothing of love. This whole concep- 
tion of praying to finite beings shows a profound 
lack of a proper knowledge of the infinite resources of 

[«3] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

the Lord Jesus Christ as a sufficient and divinely ap- 
pointed Savior for all men for all time to come. It 
dishonors the supreme, distinctive, and colossal ele- 
ment of the revelation of the New Testament. It, as 
an effort to improve and adapt, positively turns the 
mind in a wrong direction. Instead of bread it gives 
a stone. Instead of refreshing water it gives death 
dealing brine. Little objects of worship make little 
men. Here we have the secret of the decadence of the 
Roman Catholic countries. There is only one true 
object »of worship — the triune God. Any other ob- 
ject of worship is little and belittling. We are posi- 
tively told: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God 
and Him only thou shalt serve." In the book of 
Revelation, when one creature undertook to worship 
another, he was prevented with this injunction: 
"worship God." The Bible specifically and positively 
forbids the worship of any other object of any kind 
to any degree whatsoever. The secret of the Anglo- 
Saxon race is in the Bible they read and in the true 
God who is the object of their worship. The man 
who worships the God and Savior mentioned in John 
4: 21-26; Phil. 2: 1-11; Col. 1: 9-23; Eph. 3: 14-19 
will not want to worship any creature and will have 
no need to do so ; and such a man will be reliable in 
church and state anywhere. The very best specimens 
of the human race whether as individuals, as churches, 
or communities, or states have been those modeled after 
the New Testament as opposed to deadly elements of 
a defunct civilization. The man who worships only 

[84] 



By Their Fruits 

the true God will never lick the dust off the foot of 
either pope or king. 

II. In two METHODS of worship. 1. The first one 
is from the New Testament. ' ' God is a spirit and they 
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in 
truth. ' ' John 4 : 24. This is what Jesus himself said 
in giving plain instruction to a plain sinful woman. 
He meant what he said. He meant it for all. This 
worship comes out of the heart. It is given to the 
Heavenly Father. It is sincere, grateful, loving, 
spiritual. It is devout, and sometimes filled with rap- 
tures. It is no stranger to joy in the Holy Ghost. It 
is familiar with the practice »of the presence of God. 
It loves the book of Psalms. It loves to sing hymns of 
praise. It reads devotional books. It feeds on God's 
word. It glories in the imitation of Christ. It sees 
worlds in John 3: 16. Of course, this true worship 
has forms but they are simple, appropriate, becoming, 
and are unobtrusive. They are found in the New 
Testament in great sweetness and spirituality. 

2. The second METHOD of worship of the Roman 
Catholic is from Roman heathen sources. These exer- 
cises are very profuse. They are characterized by 
excessive externality. Their obtrusiveness is striking. 
They are done where they can be seen and to be 
seen. Uhlhorn paid great attention to this point and 
explains it very carefully. The Roman worship in 
all grades and places was visibly prominent. The 
Catholic church here imitates its model very closely. 
The beads, the crossings, the crosses everywhere; 

[85] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

genuflections before places, pictures, priests, altars, 
relics; processions, vestments, incense, bells, holy 
water; multiplied holidays and festivals; Oil in ex- 
treme unction; charms, images, statues; elaborate 
marriage ceremonies; pompous christenings; harmful 
rituals ; masses for the dead ; purifications ; and, many 
other things of this nature. This second element 
severely antagonizes the simplicity of the New Testa- 
ment idea of worship. The vast and poorly instructed 
masses easily mistake 'the form for the substance ; the 
shell for the kernel; the body for the soul; the -out- 
ward for the inward; the material for the spiritual. 
Scriptural authority for these things is obtained only 
by the wildest, the most unreasonable, the most un- 
scientific, and the most unreliable method of inter- 
pretation. But this method of worship readily lends 
itself to priestcraft and to dependence upon sheer 
forms and formulas. It is a great foe to spirituality. 
It is no good friend to justification by faith. It is a 
system -of works, but not of grace. There are millions 
of warm hearted Christians who do not believe that 
the ancient heathen Roman Empire, reeking in blood, 
idolatry, and licentiousness, is fit to furnish religious 
ideals and forms for this civilized, enlightened, spirit- 
ual and scientific age. They utterly repudiate the 
thought. Christ came to destroy this very thing and 
everything like it, and every one of its ideals shall 
utterly be abolished. In this new land of ours this old 
heathen element of worship ought not to find a con- 
genial home. It has ever allied itself with monarchy 

[86] 



By Their Fruits 

and despotism. "We need the New Testament freedom 
civil and religious. God atone forgives sins through 
faith in his son Jesus Christ; and the doctrine that 
men can pronounce absolution meaning that they can 
forgive, in any true sense, the sins men have com- 
mitted, is impotent impudence and impudent impo- 
tence. It is contrary to every genuine instinct of 
revealed spirituality. It is the essence of priestcraft 
and the foe of human freedom. 

III. These two standards are furthermore seen in 
two different spheres of operation. 

1. There is the New Testament sphere. This is in- 
ternal, spiritual. ' ' The Kingdom of God is not eating 
and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy 
in the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14: 17. "The Kingdom 
of God cometh not with observation; neither shall 
they say, Lo here ! or there ! The Kingdom of God is 
within you/' Luke 17 : 21. "Bender unto Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that 
are God's." The gospel changes the heart and fits 
man for the social and civil sphere. The spiritual 
was not to be weighed down by the secular. Civil 
rulers were to see after civil affairs. When the Chris- 
tians were full of spiritual power without civil en- 
tanglement, they did far more good than they did 
after trying to get ecclesiastical states and temporal 
rule. Christ wants the heart; then, the civil ruler 
will make a good citizen out of that man. Several of 
the great religious bodies in this country are doing 
a great work without interfering with the state at 

[87] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

all. This is as it should be. This is the gospel plan. 
When Christ is in the heart, the man will take his 
proper place in the commonwealth. This is too famil- 
iar to be discussed here. 

2. Then there is the heathen element. The desire 
of the popes to rule over the kings of earth. The 
Emperors of Eome wanted all the earth. The popes 
followed their example. The papal states have cut a 
great figure. At one time they reached entirely 
across the central part of Italy as a great wide belt, 
thus preventing for ages the unity of that country. 
The popes for ages have interfered with the civil 
governments of many countries. They have claimed 
the right to set up kings and the right to dethrone 
them. They have claimed to be overlords of all kings. 
The popes claim precedence over all rulers and so lest 
that point should be challenged, the pope always dines 
by himself so that at meat he may always, without 
question, have the seat of honor. The popes have 
always been greedy for lands, moneys, titles, honors, 
privileges, overlordships, and worldly distinctions of 
all kinds. Jesus had not where to lay his head; but 
the pope does not think the whole earth is a pillow 
big enough for his head. The pope under the Jesuits 
in 1816 issued a bull declaring Bible societies "a 
fiendish instrument for the undermining of the foun- 
dations of religion.' ' Huxley has pointed out that 
the Bible is the foundation of our civil and religious 
liberty. Catholic countries are supposed to be free 
from faction and to be unified by their religion. Such 

[88] 



The Invocation of Saints 

is not the case. A shrewd observer says : "Protestants 
respect both law and authority. Catholics, unable 
either to found liberty, or to do without it, make 
despotism necessary, and yet will not submit to it. 
Hence arises an ever active leaven of rebellion." The 
Bible element is against the other element and in 
Catholic countries the conflict is ever irrepressible. 
There can be no peace there ! The less of that anti- 
biblical element we have, the better; for we want 
peace. 






[%] 



CHAPTER XVIII 
The Papal Controversy 

THE papal controversy is not new ; it is not local ; 
it is not protestant ; it is not religious ; it is not 
an antequated back number ; it is not confined to any 
•one sphere of life. The papal controversy involves 
the civil and political claims of the pope as specifically 
distinct from the religious elements. If the pope 
should claim universal spiritual overlordship only, 
that would arouse great opposition. If he should 
claim universally civil control only, that would pro- 
voke bitter feeling. But as he claims supreme and 
unconditional overlordship in both these realms the 
antagonism is so deep and wide as to become irrepres- 
sible. It will not down. The world is weary of 
one-man rule. Many centuries of experience with 
absolutism in many forms and places have caused the 
world to look with distrust upon its appearance in 
any sphere or degree. The acid test to which it has 
been put for so long a time is not favorable to its con- 
tinuation. It has been weighed in the balances and 
found wanting. There has been no good opportunity 
for showing its possibilities which it has not enjoyed. 
It can not complain of unfair treatment. It has had 
full sway for centuries in many countries and yet it 

[90] 



The Papal Controversy 

has failed to meet the reasonable expectations of man- 
kind. It has had every chance to show what things 
it could do. The result has been wreck and ruin; 
battle and blood; crime and oppression. The strong 
trend of the whole world towards democracy shows 
that it has lost both hope and confidence in the lead- 
ership of monarchy whether in church or state. This 
fact finds expression in the periodic literature of 
every land today. Any adequate solution of the papal 
question justly demands the elimination of all ele- 
ments which are not pertinent and which only muddy 
the waters. The real issue without complications 
ought to be brought to the front. Side issues ought 
to be eliminated. In order to do this several points 
need to be noted attentively. 

1. It is not new. It is a very old contention. It 
has been on hand much more than a thousand years. 
Let no one think that it arose yesterday or that it is 
in its youth. A few historical facts will establish 
this point. It was in 1077 the pope Gregory VII 
humiliated Henry IV by making him stand in the 
snow at Canossa three days before he gave him the 
kiss of peace and of reconciliation. In 1245 Pope 
Innocent IV excommunicated the Emperor Frederick 
II. In 1411 there were three popes and three Em- 
perors all fighting each other at the same time. The 
Emperor Charles V, the great Catholic, with Protes- 
tant Lutheran soldiers, stormed and took Rome, May 
6, 1527, and dictated terms to the pope. All these 

[9i] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

popes and rulers belonged to the church characterized 
by " unity and holiness." 

2. It is not local. It is everywhere. "Wherever 
Catholics are there arises the question of jurisdiction. 
The claim of the right to rule both in church and 
state is freely made. There are always in every place 
those who challenge this pretension. Hence the con- 
flict. 

3. It is not Protestant. It is not confined to Pro- 
testant countries. In Spain, in France, in Austria, 
in Italy, in South Germany, which are all Catholic 
countries, there is the same problem and the same 
strife. It existed long before there were Protestants, 
technically so called; and, it has always existed and 
now exists in countries where Protestants either do 
not exist or where their voice is not loud enough to be 
heard. In Italy the pope and the King are at dagger's 
point ; but, they are Catholics. Since 1870 the feeling 
between them has been intensely bitter. In Spain 
the King dares not even try to visit Barcelona and 
Valencia without a guard; for, to go there would be 
to die; and yet they are all Catholics. In the heart 
of the problem the Protestant element is only inci- 
dental and subordinate. The papal element is the 
political element; it is the pope's claim of authority 
to regulate civil affairs, which the people think they 
themselves are competent to manage, that brings the 
trouble. They will not permit interference from a 
foreigner in these things. They resent his dictation. 
This spirit of resistence to intermeddling in domestic 

[92] 



The Papal Controversy 

and secular affairs is deeply imbedded in human na- 
ture and is a perpetually secure bulwark against 
tyranny and oppression. It is one of the deepest 
instincts of our being and shows marks of the divine 
origin of man. But when Catholics encroach on the 
purely civil sphere and are opposed in this particular 
respect, they cry out that they are persecuted because 
of their religion. Catholics oppose state schools as 
such unless they alone have absolute control -of the 
teaching. They raise objections to such schools. But 
when objections are raised to their objections, they 
cry out: "Persecution !" It is a shrewd dodge. It 
is fine policy for the wolf to clothe himself in a 
sheepskin when he desires to get near the sheep with- 
out causing the flock to be frightened. But this trick 
has been played so often that intelligent students of 
history ought by this time to become thoroughly ac- 
quainted with it. This political element needs to be 
carefully detached from the religious part so that the 
real merits of the controversy may be properly pre- 
sented to the mind for adequate consideration. In- 
genious contrivances for the plausible concealment of 
the essentially component sections of the character- 
istic features of the indisputable gist of the 
exact point in the issue can not always be used 
without such detection as will lead to adequate and 
manifest exposure. The mind craves facts and sound 
arguments solidly based on these facts. Fallacies can 
not permanently carry convictions in their direction. 
The best spirit of this age demands procedure along 

[93] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

the line of rigidly scientific investigation. Camou- 
flage is no longer allowable. The sun will shine. 
When the flat stone is turned over, letting the sun 
shine directly upon the roaches, they will run in 
every direction. Turn the light on. Expose impos- 
tures, no matter where found. 

Civil institutions must not be destroyed under the 
specious pretense that religion is endangered. True 
religion is perfectly safe. Nobody in this country 
desires to persecute any man because of his religion 
as such no matter how reprehensible and faulty it 
may be. But there are many men who are willing to 
defend against all comers our national constitution 
which has been purchased by the work and blood »of 
our forefathers. When the decks are cleared for 
action let us be sure that we are aiming at the real 
enemy. Recently a man visited a western city where 
he was told that even if a man there desired no more 
than the office of a policeman he must first get the 
indorsement of a certain Catholic priest in that place. 
True Americans will not always submit to that sort 
of thing no matter to what denomination the religious 
dictator may belong. In this country we do not pro- 
pose to be slaves to any man. Nor will we receive 
laws from a foreigner. When the Spanish American 
war broke out Gen. Wade Hampton said: "This is 
our country and it is our duty to make it the home of 
liberty for all ages to come." This is sound Ameri- 
can doctrine but it is not the teaching of the Roman 
Catholic Church. Gen. Lafayette said: "If the lib- 

[94] 



The Papal Controversy 

erties of the American people are ever destroyed, 
they will fall by the hands of the Romish clergy.' ' 
Cardinal McClosky says: "They (the Catholics of 
the United States) are as strongly devoted to the sus- 
tenance and maintenance of the temporal power of 
the Holy Father as Catholics in any part of the 
world; and if it should be necessary to prove it by 
acts, they are ready to do so." Cardinal Manning 
says: "Moreover, we declare, affirm, define, and pro- 
nounce it to be necessary to salvation for every human 
creature to be subject to the Eoman Pontiff." Hon 
R. W. Thompson, formerly Secretary of the United 
States Navy, says: "He who accepts Papal infalli- 
bility, and with it the ultramontane interpretation of 
the power of the Pope over the world, and thinks that 
by offending the Pope he offends God, will obey, 
passively, unresistingly, uninquiringly. Such a man, 
whether priest or layman, high or low, is necessarily 
inimical to the government and political institutions 
of the United States ; with him, his oath of allegiance 
is worth no more than the paper upon which it is 
written." Yet when we defend our purely civil in- 
stitutions in a perfectly legitimate way we are some- 
times squarely accused of persecuting Roman 
Catholics because of their religion. So then the papal 
question is neither Protestant nor religious but purely 
political. The Catholics apparently, some people 
think, are in politics for the subversion of every form 
of liberty. True Americanism necessarily brings the 
patriot into antagonism against every one who would 

[95] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New Testament Light 

overturn our government in the interest of any for- 
eign claimant of the sovereignty which belongs solely 
to the people. Let there be no false issue. 

4. The papal question is a living one. It is neither 
dead nor antiquated. Tyrants are as anxious for 
power as ever. Alexander III, Czar of Russia from 
1881 to 1894, was one of the greatest persecutors that 
ever lived. The Turks now are actually putting the 
Armenians to death more fearlessly than ever because 
they think that there' is no one to call them to account. 
The Eoumanians are also now bitterly persecuting 
Protestants. William II, Emperor of Germany, only 
eight years ago, brought on the world war in the 
exercise of Autocratic power. The love of power is 
buried deeply in the human heart. The tyrant is 
ready when the opportunity comes. There are always 
some indifferent souls who think that bad rulers were 
all in the past. They are too little and too selfish 
to get a world view of the situation. They have a 
contempt for "agitators." If they can only draw in 
the dollars, the rest of the world may go to ruin so 
far as they are concerned. But now as ever, ' * eternal 
vigilance is the price of liberty." There are those 
who are always gnawing at the root of the tree of 
freedom. Any attempt to retard their operations is 
sure to bring forth the sad lamentation that they are 
the unfortunate objects of a spiteful persecution 
more deadly than any recorded in the annals of man- 
kind. No men can personify innocence to better ad- 
vantage than they; and, they have the skillful art of 

[96] 



The Papal Controversy 

enlisting the sympathy and cooperation of some good 
men who ought to have better judgment than to be 
found on the side of those who would use everything 
in the interest of their own special purposes. They 
divide the enemy and by so doing hope, in some way, 
to conquer. Those who are usable dupes can be 
depended upon to sing the doleful song that we ought 
to be careful to see to it that we be indifferent in 
non-essentials and charitable in all things. Their 
doctrine is that the horse ought to be permitted to be 
stolen out of the stable and that then it is time enough 
to lock the door. The rule by any one class is a 
tyranny — no matter what that class may be. The 
Bolshevists are as bad as the Czars. They are only 
one class. This is a "government of the people, by 
the people, for the people." The Pope as an Italian 
prince would 

"Bestride the narrow world, 

Like a Colossus ; and we petty men 

"Walk under his huge legs, and peep about 

To find ourselves dishonorable graves.' 7 

In submitting to this, 

' ' The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 
But in ourselves, that we are underlings." 

Let every outside ruler keep in his own territory and J 
let this country alone. 

5. It is not confined to any one sphere of life. The 
pope claims supremacy both in the religious and in 

[97] 



The Catholic Controversy in the New testament Light 

the civil sphere. The wife can be questioned in the 
confessional by a priest, who is of another sex, con- 
cerning the most delicate and vital affairs about which 
the husband alone has the right to know. These ques- 
tions are printed in Latin. They are so impertinent, 
so immodest, so unbecoming that they dare not be 
translated into English. If any other man were to 
ask these same questions of the same wife, and the 
same husband should find it out, something would 
happen. Some foods are prohibited on certain days. 
The Bible may not be read except under such restric- 
tions as largely rob it of its teaching power. Even 
men may have no secrets but such as the priest must 
know. Every sphere of life must undergo officious 
supervision. Body and soul, the penitent is uncon- 
ditionally committed into the hands of the priest, who 
is in the hands of the bishop, who is in the hands of 
the archbishop, who is in the hands of the cardinal, 
who is in the hands of the pope ; all of which system 
spells slavery and bondage; but, against this, and 
every thing like this, our Lord Jesus Christ protested 
by every word he spoke, by every breath he drew, and 
by every act he performed. 

Turn away from all this to the New Testament. 
"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on 
him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my dis- 
ciples indeed and ye shall know the truth and the 
truth shall make you free." "If the Son therefore 
shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 
8: 31, 32, 36. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Jan. 2006 

PreservationTechnotogies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




i 



017 319 081 5 




